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The Naturalisation of the 
Supernatural 



By 

Frank Podmore 

Author of 

Modern SpirituaUsm — A History and a Criticism / Studies in Psychical 

Research / Apparitions and Thought Transference, etc. 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

ITbe Iknicherbocker ipreds 

1908 






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Copyright, 1908 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 



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PREFATORY NOTE 

THE illustrative narratives quoted in the fol- 
lowing pages are selected partly from the 
Proceedings, but mainly from the unpublished 
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. 
I desire to acknowledge the courtesy which has 
placed these materials at my disposal. 

F. P. 
October, 1907. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

Introductory 

PAGE 

Founding of the Society for Psychical Research : its aims and methods : 
the subjects to be investigated — Telepathy or thought- 
transference : its history ; its relation to the physical world . . i 

CHAPTER II 

Experimental Thought Transference 

The Brighton experiments by Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick: trans- 
ference of numbers ; of mental pictures — Difficulties of experiments 
at distance — Experiments by Mrs. Verrall. Experiments at a dis- 
tance, by Dr. Wiltse — by the Rev. A. Glardon — by Miss Campbell 
and Miss Despard — by Miss Miles and Miss Ramsden . . .16 

CHAPTER III 

Spontaneous Thought-Transference — 
Mind's Eye Visions 

Evidence to spontaneous occurrences inferior to the experimental evi- 
dence : various sources of error discussed — Transference of indefinite 

impressions, Professor , Mr. Garrison, Mr. Young — of visual 

impressions, Miss C. P. M. C, Mrs. D., Miss Angus, Mr. Policy — 
of auditory impressions, Frau U. — of pain, Mrs. Castle — of motor 
impulse, Archdeacon Bruce 47 

CHAPTER IV 

Spontaneous Thought-Transference — 
Coincident Dreams 

Weakness of evidence derived from dreams : the greater scope for chance 
coincidence; the difficulty in accurately recollecting the impres- 
sion — Examples of dreams which may reasonably be regarded as 
telepathic : from Dr. Adele Gleason, Mrs. Krekel, Mr. H. B., Miss 
Clarkson, Mrs. Mann, Mr. Brierley, Mrs. Knight . . 76 



vi Contents 

CHAPTER V 

On Hallucinations in General 

PACK 

Common misconception of the nature of apparitions. They are in fact 
hallucinations. The Census of Hallucinations — its results — dis- 
tribution of hallucinations amongst the sane. Hallucinations 
occurring at the time of a death; calculation as to chance coincidence — 
Difficulties in connecting experimental cases of thought-transference 
with spontaneous hallucination. Transition formed by case of 
apparitions experimentally produced — Examples from Mr. Godfrey, 

Mrs. E , Miss Dan vers. On reciprocal telepathy: — Example 

from Captain Ward and Mrs. Green ...... 99 

CHAPTER VI 
Telepathic Hallucinations 
The importance of attestation by contemporary documents. Examples — 
Auditory, Miss C. Clark — Visual, Prince Duleep Singh, Mme. 
Broussiloff, Mrs. Michell, Mr. Kearne, Miss Hervey — With gro- 
tesque accompaniments, Mr. Dove — Comparison of hallucinations 
with dreams — Cases where the "agency" is doubtful, Miss R. and 
Mrs. Bagot — Collective percipience, Mr. Tweedale . . .124 

CHAPTER VII 
Poltergeists 

Antiquity and wide range of the phenomena — Rise of Modern Spirit- 
ualism from Poltergeists — A typical case, the trial at Cideville, given 
at length from the court records — The connection with Witch- 
craft. Fallacies of obser\'ation and memory — both sources of error 
illustrated by case from Sumatra, reported by Mr. Grottendieck . 149 

CHAPTER VIII 
Spiritualism 

Importance of the subject : an extensive religious movement. Difficulties 
in the way of investigation and gradual diminution of the mani- 
festations. No positive results obtained by the Society — Vhe 
investigation of slate- writing: discrepancies and evidential weakness 
demonstrated by Dr. Hodgson: Mr. Davey's pseudo-seances : their 
triumphant success: explanation of the methods employed — Inherent 
weakness of all evidence depending upon continuous observation. 
The case of Eusapia Palladino still under consideration . .171 



Contents vii 

CHAPTER IX 

On Communication with the Dead 

PAGE 

Some disapprove the enquiry : most are simply indifferent — Causes of 

this indifference. Difficulties of the enquiry — its vindication . . 203 

CHAPTER X 
Phantasms of the Dead 

Announcement of death by dream or waking vision : examples from Mr. 
Peebles, Miss Kitching, Mrs. Haly, Mr. King, Mr. Tandy, Mr. 
Cameron Grant : indications in each case that the vision may have 
originated in the thoughts of the survivors — Case of Mrs. Y. — 
Information furnished in dreams, etc. : examples from Prof. 
Dolbear, Miss Whiting, Dona Nery, Miss Conley. The question of 
latent memory — Collective hallucinations, discussion of their origin 
and significance : examples from Rev. A. Holborn, Mrs. A. and 
others, the Misses Russell , , 213 

CHAPTER XI 

Haunted Houses 

The influence of locality in facilitating telepathy: examples from Mrs. 
Benecke, Mrs. O'Donnell — Apparitions associated with skeletons ; 
examples from W. Moir, Mrs. Montague-Crackanthorpe — Appari- 
tion haunting country road : Miss Scott and others — Records of a 
haunted house : Miss Morton — Character of evidence for haunted 
houses in general 245 

CHAPTER XII 
Messages Received through Trance and Automatism 

The study of hypnotism, etc., has revolutionised psychology. Conscious- 
ness composite. Consciousness in normal life — in sleep — in hypno- 
tism — in morbid dissociations of personality — in automatism. On 
pseudo-personalities. Messages received — in reverie, Mr. C. — 
through motor automatism, Judge Harden — through automatic 
writing. Prof. Aksakof — in spontaneous trance, Mr. Wilkie — in 
hypnotic trance. Dr. Vidigal 275 

CHAPTER XIII 
The Case of Mrs. Piper 

Record of automatic writings by Mrs. Verrall — Apparent fulfilment of a 
test in her writing — A message from the dead. Earlier mediums — 



viii Contents 



Addle Maginot and Stainton Moses. The case of Mrs. Piper — Early 
history — Control by Phinuit — Mr. J. T. Clarke's interview — Record 
by Sir O. Lodge — The George Pelham control — Striking imperson- 
ation — Later communications ....... 299 

CHAPTER XIV 

On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

Myers's view of these transcendental faculties, and their relation to the 
subliminal self — Evidence for Clairvoyance at close quarters: Dick, 
the pit lad: Alexis Didier: Major Buckley's experiments — Travel- 
ling Clairvoyance : examples from Dr. Barcellos, Miss Busk — On 
Prevision : weakness of dream evidence, dreams of numbers drawn 
for conscription — Symbolic hallucinations: Mrs. Verrall's instance 
of the "death-watch" — Pseudo-prophetic dreams: Mrs. McAlpine, 
Mr. F. Lane — Apparent prediction through automatic writing : 
Mrs. Verrall — in dream, Colonel Coghill, Prof. Newbold. Con- 
clusion ..... 331 

Index 367 



The Naturalisation of the Supernatural 



THE NATURALISATION OF 
THE SUPERNATURAL 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTORY 

// has been widely felt that the present is an opportune time for 
making an organised and systematic attempt to investigate that 
large group of debatable phenomena designated by such terms as 
mesmeric^ psychical^ and spiritualistic. 

From the recorded testimony of many competent witnesses, past 
and present, including observations recently made by scientific men 
of eminence in various countries, there appears to be, amid much 
delusion and deception, an important body of remarkable phe- 
nomena, which are prima facie inexplicable on any generally 
recognised hypothesis, and which, if incontestably established, 
would be of the highest possible value. 

The task of examining such residual phenomena has often been 
undertaken by individual effort, but never hitherto by a scientific 
society organised on a sufiUciently broad basis. 

The above extract from the original prospectus 
of the Society for Psychical Research, issued in 
1882, shows the spirit in which it entered on its 
investigations, the aim which it set before itself, 
and the methods by which it was proposed to 
pursue this aim. 



2 Introductory 

The title which I have chosen for the present 
book, " The Naturahsation of the Supernatural," 
describes in popular language the object aimed at. 
The facts which the Society proposed to investigate 
stood, and some still stand, as aliens, outside the 
realm of organised knowledge. It proposed to ex- 
amine their claim to be admitted within the pale. 
And it is important to recognise that whether we 
found ourselves able to accept the credentials of 
these postulants for recognition, or whether we felt 
ourselves compelled to reject them as undesirables, 
the aim which the Society set before itself would 
equally be fulfilled. In undertaking the enquiry 
we did not assume to express any opinion before- 
hand on the value of the evidence to be examined. 
Whatever the present bias of individual members 
towards belief or disbelief, it will not, I think, be 
charged against us, by any one who dispassionately 
studies the results published in the earlier volumes 
of the Proceedings and in the book, Phantasms of 
the Living, in which the case for telepathy was first 
set before the public, that any private preposses- 
sions were allowed to pervert the methods of the 
enquiry. To ascertain the facts of the case, at 
whatever cost to established opinions and pre- 
judices, has been the consistent aim of the Society 
and its workers. If some of our investigations have 
resulted in the detection of Imposture, the discovery 
of unsuspected fallacies of sense and memory, and 
the general disintegration of some Imposing struc- 
tures built upon too narrow foundations ; whilst 



Introductory 3 

others have revealed the occurrence of phenomena 
which neither chance nor fraud nor fallacy of sense 
can plausibly explain, and for which the present 
scientific synthesis has as yet found no place, it is 
pertinent to remember that the investigators have 
been the same, the methods pursued the same, and 
the object in all cases was simply the discovery of 
the truth. 

There is another point to be made clear. The 
prospectus just cited speaks of an ** organised and 
systematic" investigation. It was characteristic of 
the Society in the first few years that its methods 
of work were elaborated and the canons of evidence 
laid down in committee ; and that the greater part 
of the actual work, whether of experimental investi- 
gation or merely of weighing and analysing reports 
made by contributors, was again done in concert. 
It may be admitted that the leading investigators 
were attracted to the enquiry mainly in the hope 
of finding empirical evidence for the existence of 
the soul after death. So long as the collection and 
appraisal of evidence was a joint work, there were 
no grounds for thinking that the existence of this 
hope in any way biassed our reception of the evi- 
dence or the scope of the conclusions based upon 
it. But after the preliminary survey which oc- 
cupied the first few years of the Society's existence, 
the need for concerted action was no longer so 
urgently felt. Different portions of the field at- 
tracted different workers ; and the results of individ- 
ual investigations in the outlying regions show 



4 Introductory 

marked divergences of opinion. Wherever this 
divergence exists, I shall endeavour to sum up the 
evidence as fairly as I can : but it must be re- 
membered that the conclusions set down are my 
own, for which my colleagues are in no way 
responsible. 

Another misconception of the nature ot our 
work should perhaps be referred to. It is objected, 
of recent years, by some scientific critics that the 
Society for Psychical Research has no justification 
for its existence. Some of the phenomena which 
it investigates, say these critics, are subject-matter 
for the psychologist or the physicist ; the remain- 
der can be left to the police court. The best justi- 
fication for our work is that it is now possible for 
such a contention to be put forward. Twenty-five 
years ago the psychologist and the physicist showed 
no eagerness to come forward ; and even the in- 
terference of the police court was intermittent, and 
frequently ill advised. The phenomena which we 
have investigated have proved no doubt to be 
heterogeneous, but until they were investigated 
their relations could not be discovered. It is ob- 
vious now that some of them can be subsumed 
under existing branches of science. But, to take 
an illustration, until some disposition is shown by 
medical men or professional psychologists to under- 
take the task of investigating the hallucinations of 
the sane, it is surely premature to brand the inves- 
tigators of the Society for Psychical Research as 
usurpers. A brief survey, however, of what has 



Introductory 5 

actually been done will make the position clearer. 
The phenomena to be investigated by the Society 
were roughly classified in 1882 under five heads: 

1. An examination of the nature and extent of any in- 
fluence which may be exerted by one mind upon another, 
apart from any generally recognised mode of perception. 

2. The study of hypnotism, and the forms of so-called 
mesmeric trance, with its alleged insensibility to pain ; 
clairvoyance, and other allied phenomena. 

3. A critical revision of Reichenbach's researches 
with certain organisations called ** sensitive,'* and an 
inquiry whether such organisations possess any power 
of perception beyond a highly exalted sensibility of the 
recognised sensory organs. 

4. A careful investigation of any reports, resting on 
strong testimony, regarding apparitions at the moment of 
death, or otherwise, or regarding disturbances in houses 
reputed to be haunted. 

5. An inquiry into the various physical phenomena 
commonly called spiritualistic ; with an attempt to dis- 
cover their causes and general laws. 

The inquiry under heading 3 proved inconclu- 
sive : but there seems now little room for doubt 
that the phenomena reported by Reichenbach were 
due in the main to unconscious suggestion, a fruit- 
ful and until recent years insufficiently recognised 
source of error in all investigations in this obscure 
region. The inquiries under headings i, 4, and 5 
are still proceeding ; and the results so far reached 
will be set forth in the chapters which follow. But 
the study of hypnotism (2) has been practically 
abandoned of recent years by the lay members of 



6 Introductory 

the S. P. R., precisely because it has been claimed 
by medical men, who both by their education and 
their opportunities are better qualified for its prose- 
cution. But in 1882 no English doctor who cared 
for his reputation had a good word to say for hyp- 
notism ; and on the continent its chief, almost its 
only exponent was Liebeault, an obscure practi- 
tioner in a small provincial town. The attitude of 
the scientific world to the subject may be inferred 
from the fact that in drafting the Society's pro- 
spectus it was thought necessary to class hypnotism 
amongst "debatable phenomena," and to write,a gen- 
eration after Esdaile and Braid, of the "alleged in- 
sensibility to pain " in the " mesmeric " trance. That 
within the last decade or so the facts of hypnotism 
have begun to find acceptance with British medical 
men is no doubt partly due to the experimental 
work begun by Edmund Gurney and the writings of 
Frederic Myers, and later to the adoption of hyp- 
notic suggestion in medical practice by Dr. Milne 
Bramwell, Dr. Lloyd Tuckey, and other members 
of the Society. 

The investigations under headings i, 4, and 5 of 
the prospectus are, as already said, still proceeding. 
And in the course of its existence the Society has 
found many subjects to investigate of a cognate 
character, though not actually included in the 
original scheme. A committee of the Society, for 
instance, of which Dr. Hodgson was the leading 
member, examined and exposed the pretended 
marvels of Mme. Blavatsky and the early Theo- 



Introductory 7 

sophists, and Professor Barrett has by his exhaustive 
researches made out a strong case for the use of 
the divining-rod in finding underground water. But 
the most important of the investigations undertaken 
by the Society is that connected with Thought 
Transference, or Telepathy, as it has been happily 
named by the late F. W. H. Myers. The subject 
is important because of its wide scope ; if the prin- 
ciple of a new mode of communication is once ac- 
cepted an extensive range of phenomena can be 
explained. It is important also, as will be shown 
below, because of its possible implications. 

The belief in telepathy has, it should be pre- 
mised, a distinguished pedigree — a pedigree which 
it shares with the doctrine of gravitation. It is as 
old as the days when Chaldean shepherds, watch- 
ing the stars by night, essayed to read therein the 
revelation of the Divine Will and to forecast the 
destiny of human kind. From these nightly vigils 
came the fruitful conception of an invisible influ- 
ence radiating from the heavenly bodies — an influ- 
ence potent for good and evil, yet transcending the 
limitations of mortal senses. At the hands of the 
later alchemists — Paracelsus and his successors — • 
this conception received a remarkable extension. 
Not the stars only, but all substances in the uni- 
verse, they taught, radiate influence and receive 
influence in turn. Especially was this true of man, 
for man is the true microcosm — '* Man containeth 
in himself," says Fludd, ** no otherwise his heavens, 
circles, poles, and stars than the great world doth." 



8 Introductory 

Man, above all other substances, and above all 
other living things, was perpetually acting upon his 
fellows by means of this invisible effluence. 

Star vibrates light to star, may soul to soul 
Strike through some finer element of her own. 

This natural action and reaction could, the al- 
chemists taught, be strengthened in particular cases 
by the exercise of will-power, by the practice of 
medicine, and by magical arts. " By the magic 
power of the will," Paracelsus writes, ** a person 
on this side of the ocean may make a person on 
the other side hear what is said on this side . . . 
the ethereal body of a man may know what another 
man thinks at a distance of loo miles and more." 
A later mystic, the Scottish physician Maxwell, as- 
serts that the physician who has learnt to influence 
his patient's vital spirits can cure that patient's 
disease at any distance by invoking the aid of the 
universal spirit. 

This conception of an influence which emanates 
from all things in the universe, but from human 
bodies in particular, was popularised by that genius 
among quacks, Franz Antoine Mesmer. Many 
of Mesmer's followers in France, Germany, and 
England proved, or thought they proved, that 
there did indeed radiate such an invisible healing 
effluence from the mesmerist to his patient. The 
proof was chiefly exhibited in the power of the 
mesmerist — or hypnotiser, as we should now call 
him — to send his subject into the trance or to 



Introductory 9 

cause him, by mere force of will, to approach from 
a distance. 

A very curious result of this supposed reciprocal 
influence of mesmerist and subject was demonstrated 
in the forties by some of our English mesmerists. 
The entranced subject, it was shown, would fre- 
quently be able to share the sensations of his mes- 
merist, to taste what he was eating, or to feel what 
he was feeling. The manifestations of this curious 
faculty — the existence of which, whatever its explan- 
ation, has been confirmed by later experiment — 
are sometimes extremely ludicrous. In the hypnotic 
sleep it is as a rule quite easy to make the subject 
Insensible to pain. I have seen a youth in this 
condition who suffered gladly the most injurious 
attacks upon his own person — who would allow his 
hair to be pulled, his ears pinched, his fingers even 
to be scorched by lighted matches. But the same 
youth would the next moment indignantly resent 
the slightest injury inflicted upon his hypnotiser, 
who would all the time be standing at the other 
end of the room. 

Professor Barrett was in the present generation 
the first to reproduce experimental results similar 
to those recorded by Elliotson and his contempo- 
raries, and his lead has since been followed by many 
others. But the later experiments have been con- 
ducted under much stricter conditions. It is com- 
paratively easy to exclude deliberate fraud: the 
real difficulty lies in the fact that the hypnotic sub- 
ject — and experiments of this kind are found to 



lo Introductory 

succeed best with hypnotised persons — is extremely 
susceptible to suggestion of any kind. And his 
susceptibility is frequently increased by hyperses- 
thesia of the special senses, especially the sense 
of hearing. The strictest precautions are neces- 
sary, therefore, in all experiments conducted 
at close quarters, to ensure that no information 
shall reach him through the look, the gesture, 
or even the breathing of the bystander. In the 
cases cited in the next chapter the conditions of 
the experiment have been briefly indicated, but 
the reader is in all cases recommended to study 
the fuller records given in the publications of 
the Society. 

There remains the question as to the nature of 
the transmission. When I tell a piece of news to 
a friend, a psychical state in me produces a corre- 
sponding psychical state in him. But we recognise 
that the psychical process proceeds /^r^'/^i-i-?^ with 
a physical process. The tension in my nerve cen- 
tres provokes to action my organs of speech, which 
give rise to aerial waves, which in turn produce a 
physical change in my friend's ears and so ulti- 
mately in his brain. Can any corresponding chain 
of physical causation be traced when the news 
is conveyed telepathically ? So far as the experi- 
ments at close quarters are concerned, when the 
two parties are separated by a few feet or yards 
only, there is no difficulty in conceiving that the 
entire process may be susceptible of expression in 
physical terms. V/e have at either end of the 



Introductory ii 

chain a physical event — the changes in the cere- 
bral tissues which are presumed to correspond to 
every act of thought or sensation. And it is not 
without interest to note in this connection that the 
arrangement of some of the nerve cells in the 
brain bears a superficial resemblance to the ar- 
rangement of the particles in the "coherer" used 
for the reception of the message in wireless tele- 
graphy. Again, 

Rontgen has familiarised us [says Sir William Crookes] with 
an order of vibrations of extreme minuteness compared with 
the smallest waves with which we have hitherto been ac- 
quainted, and of dimensions comparable with the distances 
between the centres of the atoms of which the material uni- 
verse is built up: and there is no reason to suppose that we 
have here reached the limit of frequency. It is known that 
the action of thought is accompanied by certain molecular 
movements in the brain, and here we have physical vibrations 
capable from their extreme minuteness of acting direct 
on individual molecules, while their rapidity approaches 
that of the internal and external movements of the atoms 
themselves.* 

No such connection between thinking brains has 
been proved of course ; but we have here a mechan- 
ism apparently sufficient for the purpose : sufficient 
at any rate to meet the objection urged by some 
that the establishment of telepathy would dislocate 
our entire conception of the physical universe. Nor 
does the fact that only certain persons, apparently, 
are affected by the telepathic impulse present any 
serious difficulty. For the brain of both agent and 

* Presidential address to the British Association, Sept., 1898. 



12 Introductory 

percipient may conceivably, on the analogy of wire- 
less telegraphy, be set to transmit and receive only 
vibrations of a certain amplitude. A more formid- 
able objection is found in the action of the force at 
a distance. For successful experiment, it seems 
necessary, in most cases, that the two parties should 
be in the same room. In a few experimental cases, 
however, as we shall see, the distance over which the 
transmission must be presumed to have operated 
extends to twenty miles or more. And in some of 
the best evidenced cases of spontaneous apparitions 
the agent and percipient were half the world apart.^ 
If, however, the transmission is effected by ethereal 
vibrations, the force diminishing, as in the case of 
other physical energies, in the ratio of the square 
of the distance, it is difficult to conceive how an 
impulse which in some of our experiments can 
barely produce its effect at a distance of a few 
yards, should even under the most favourable cir- 
cumstances, when the disturbance is presumably of 
a much more massive character, prove sufficiently 
intense to bridge a gulf of thousands of miles. Sir 
W. Crookes hazards the suggestion that " intense 
thought concentrated towards a sensitive with 
whom the thinker is in close sympathy may induce 
a telepathic chain of brain waves along which the 
message of thought can go straight to its goal 
without loss of energy due to distance."" But he 

* See,<r. ^., case No. 37 where the agent was in Dublin and the percipient 
in Tasmania. 

' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xii., p. 352. 



Introductory 13 

indicates that the suggestion is almost a forlorn 
hope by asking further — ** Is it inconceivable that 
our mundane ideas of space and distance may be 
superseded in these subtile regions of unsubstantial 
thought where * near ' and * far * may lose their 
usual meaning ? " The difficulty is indeed so great 
as to induce some thinkers to suggest that the 
psychical process may be without a physical paral- 
lel — that the connection between the two psychical 
states may conceivably be found in the psychical 
world alone.^ 

But after all such a conclusion rests entirely upon 
a negation — our present inability to conceive of an 
explanation. And that inability the progress of 
scientific research may at any time remove, as has 
happened again and again in the past in the case of 
similar problems which at one time seemed equally 
secure against explanation in physical terms. The 
phenomena of animal life were not so very long 
ago held to stand outside the physical world : the 
very substances of which our tissues are composed 
were supposed to owe some of their physical pro- 
perties to a principle of vitality. But chemists can 
now build up, out of the bricks and mortar of the 
dead world, many of these once mysterious organic 
compounds. They have not yet, it is true, built up 

* This was, so far as I can gather, the view held by Mr. Myers (see 
Human Personality, especially vol. i., p. 8, " this direct and supersensuous 
communion of mind with mind "). See also Report of the Committee on 
the Census of Hallucinations {Proceedings^ vol. x., p. 27) and the Presi- 
dential address to the Society by Mr. A. J. Balfour, Proceedings^ vol. x., p. 
9-11. 



14 Introductory 

the cathedral of Hfe, even in the humblest proto- 
zoon ; but all architects must have time to learn 
their trade. Again, the activities of man, especially 
those activities which are accompanied by con- 
sciousness and will, were also for long thought to 
be outside the physical world. But the case is so 
far altered that the burden of proof is now shifted 
to the other side. The philosopher who claims to 
interpolate a psychical link in the chain of physical 
processes which connects nerve-stimulus with ac- 
tion has to meet the challenge of the physiologist. 
We have grounds for hoping, then, that, if we are 
content to wait, the difficulties in the way of a 
physical explanation of telepathy may ultimately 
diminish. And meanwhile the hypothesis of tele- 
pathy is in no worse case than is, or was until re- 
cently,^ the hypothesis of gravitation. The energy 
which causes weight conforms to the law of the in- 
verse square ; but the only physical explanations of 
its action which have been suggested are so cum- 
brous and involve such large assumptions as to 
be little more than curiosities of speculation. On 
the other hand, we have little difficulty in conceiv- 
ing of a mechanism by which telepathy could oper- 
ate ; the difficulty is to account for the energy not 
diminishing more rapidly as the distance increases. 
But, after all, is it inconceivable that the energy, 
when it is liberated under the most favourable cir- 

' Possibly the recent discovery that atoms are not atomic, and that their 
constituent parts may, under certain circumstances, move freely through 
space, may facilitate the acceptance of a corpuscular theory of gravitation. 



Introductory 15 

cumstances, may suffice to produce the effects re- 
ported in the spontaneous cases referred to ? 

At any rate we can but wait until the further 
progress of research, not necessarily in this field 
alone, may throw some light upon the problem. 



CHAPTER II 

EXPERIMENTAL THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE 

NUMEROUS experiments in the transmission 
of ideas and sensations have been carried on 
during the twenty-five years which have elapsed 
from the foundation of the Society for Psychical 
Research, by committees of the Society, by individ- 
ual members or groups of members, and by vari- 
ous Continental students of the subject. Records 
of many of them will be found scattered through 
the Society's Proceedings and Journals. By far 
the most important of these investigations, how- 
ever, are those conducted at Brighton by the late 
Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick, and later by Mrs. 
Sidgwick and Miss Alice Johnson, assisted by Mr. 
G. A. Smith, in the years 1 889-1 891. The per- 
cipients were several youths, aged about twenty to 
twenty-five, and later a young woman employed in 
a shop. 

The experiments were carried on whilst the per- 
cipients were in the hypnotic sleep, the hypnotiser 
and agent being Mr. G. A. Smith. For a full 
record of the experiments, details of the precau- 
tions taken, and an analysis of the answers given, 
the reader is referred to the articles in Proceedings, 
vols. vi. and viii. It is impossible here to do 

x6 



Experimental Thought Transference 1 7 

more than briefly summarise the conditions and 
the resuks. 

The main object of the experiments was to deter- 
mine the fact of the transmission of ideas and 
sensations by other than the ordinary sensory 
channels ; and for this purpose a form of experi- 
ment was chosen which made it possible effectually 
to eliminate the operation of chance coincidence as 
an explanation of the results. The effectiveness 
of the precautions taken to prevent information 
passing between agent and percipient by normal 
means will be discussed later. In the main series 
of experiments a set of small wooden counters, 
used in a game called Lotto, were employed. The 
counters, eighty-one in number, bore the numbers 
from 10 to 90 inclusive, stamped in raised letters 
on their face. After the subject had been hyp- 
notised, one of the counters was drawn at ran- 
dom from a bag, and handed to Mr. Smith inside 
a small box, in such a position that it was impos- 
sible for the subject, even if his eyes had been 
open, which was generally not the case, to see it. 
Mr. Smith — who in the course of the long series of 
experiments occupied various positions with rela- 
tion to the subject, sometimes in front, sometimes 
behind or at the side ^ — would look intently at the 
number, and the percipient would state his impres- 
sion. The total number of trials under these con- 
ditions with two percipients, young men named P. 

* The position in each experiment is indicated in the published report. 



1 8 Experimental Thought Transference 

and T., was 617. The correct number was given 
in 113 cases, the digits being given, however, in 
reverse order in 14 out of the 113 cases.^ If 
the coincidences were due to chance alone the 
most probable number would have been 8. That 
is, it is proved beyond all possibility of doubt 
that in this particular series of experiments the suc- 
cess attained was due to some definite and uniform 
cause. In other words, if it can be conclusively 
shown that the percipient could not have obtained 
knowledge of the numbers by the ordinary pro- 
cesses of sensation, due allowance being made for 
the hypersesthesia, especially of hearing, frequently 
met with in hypnotised subjects, the results point 
unmistakably to the existence of some hitherto 
unrecognised mode of communication. It is this 
hypothetical mode of communication which has 
been provisionally named Telepathy or Thought 
Transference. 

It seems certain that the percipients, for the rea- 
sons already given, could not have seen the figures. 
It is not in fact difficult in such experiments to 
exclude the operation of sight. But it is a much 
more difficult matter to ensure that a hint of the 
number chosen shall not be given to the percipient 
by subconscious whispering or even, conceivably, 
by rhythmical movements of the agent's body. And 
the fact that when a curtain was interposed between 
the agent and percipient, or when they were placed 

' Further, 9 of the successful cases are recorded as having been " to 
some extent second guesses." 



Experimental Thought Transference 19 

in separate rooms, success became much more un- 
certain, and the percipient in some cases received 
no impression at all, seemed from this point of view- 
extremely suspicious. The actual number of suc- 
cesses obtained under the conditions last named 
with the best percipient, P., was only 8 out of 
139 trials — a number much greater than the prob- 
able number if chance alone operated, but propor- 
tionately much smaller than the number obtained 
when the same agent and percipient were together 
in one room, without any obstacle intervening.^ 
With the other percipient, T., only one success 
was obtained in 79 trials. It became therefore 
important to determine whether the unsuccessful 
trials showed any tendency to confuse a number 
with the number most like it in sound or next in 
sequence. Thus, if the numbers were subcon- 
sciously muttered by the agent we should ex- 
pect to find that the percipient, when he went 
wrong, would give 4 for 5, 6 for 7, and vice versa. 
On the other hand, if the agent subconsciously 
counted the numbers, he would obviously count the 
digits separately, and we should expect to find, in 
the unsuccessful guesses, traces of miscounting — 
7 or 9 would be given for 8, etc. In the ac- 
companying analysis of the guesses of one of 
the percipients on his " successful " days (i. e,, the 
days with at least 3 successes), we find no trace 
of the operation of either of the suggested causes. 

* Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. vi., p. 155. 



20 Experimental Thought Transference 

Thus, to take as an illustration a digit with which 
a small degree of success was obtained, 6 was 
named correctly only 14 times out of 37, but the 

21 incorrect guesses are distributed pretty uni- 
formly over all the other digits, from o to 9.^ 

P.'s Guesses Alone on Successful Days, Mr. Smith being in the 
Same Room with Him. 



§ s 


Numbers Guessed. 


(21 


I 
2 

4 

I 
2 

I 
I 

2 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


Q 





Jii 


I 
2 
3 
4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 



S 

14 

8 

2 
2 

4 

I 
I 
4 


4 

5 

21 

6 

4 

2 
I 
8 

I 


4 

2 

3 

'^ 

4 

4 

I 
2 
I 
2 


5 

3 

I 
16 
2 
4 
3 
I 
2 


I 

3 

4 

14 

4 

I 
J 


I 

3 
2 

3 

2 
27 

5 

I 
2 


2 

3 

I 
I 
J 
3 
3 
20 
2 


2 

3 
3 
3 

I 

12 


2 

I 
I 
3 

I 
I 
8 


I 

2 

2 

3 

2 

3 

I 


43 
26 
46 
46 
46 
37 
45 
44 
21 
22 


Totals 
guess'd 


1 

3^ 4^ 


52 


46 


37 


28 


46 


40 


24 


n 


H 


37(> 



It is scarcely conceivable, if the successful results 
were actually due to hearing a faint whisper or 
other intimation under conditions of extreme dififi- 



' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. vi., p. l66. 



Experimental Thought Transference 21 

culty, that the failures should not show some clear 
indications of imperfect hearing.^ 

Nevertheless it seemed desirable on all accounts 
to have further trials with the agent and percipient 
in different rooms. The experiments were accord- 
ingly continued in the following year, 1890. Two 
hundred and fifty-two trials were made with Miss 
B. at a distance from the agent, Mr. Smith. In 
148 of these trials Miss B. was placed in an upper 

* So far as I am aware the only serious criticism of the results quoted is 
that which is contained in an article by Messrs. Hansen and Lehmann of 
Copenhagen, published some ten years ago {Wundt^s Fhil. Studien^ vol. 
xi. , pt. 4). The authors show that it is possible for information to be con- 
veyed from one person to another by whispering with closed lips — a possibil- 
ity of which the experimenters in 1889 were not aware. Messrs. Lehmann 
and Hansen made a series of experiments in the transference of numbers 
under these conditions, the one acting as *' agent," the other as "percip- 
ient." As a substitute for the hypersesthesia commonly found in hypnotised 
subjects, the Danish experimenters placed their heads in the foci of two 
concave spherical mirrors, the distance between the foci being two metres. 
Under these conditions they attained considerable success. They argued, 
further, that their failures showed such remarkable correspondences with 
the failures in the Sidgwick experiments — part of which are given in the table 
quoted in the text — as to suggest a common cause for the two sets of results. 
Professor Sidgwick {Proceedings, vol. xii., pp. 298-315) has examined very 
closely the arguments of the Danish investigators. The question of uncon- 
scious whispering, he points out, had been expressly considered, and the 
reasons for believing that it had not operated given in full. The attempt 
of the Danish investigators to show a correspondence between the results 
obtained by them and those obtained by the S. P. R. investigators breaks 
down. As a matter of fact the correspondences are not more numerous than 
those obtained by pure chance. Professor Lehmann himself has since 
admitted the force of Sidgwick's counter-argument, and agrees that his 
theory is not yet established (see his letter to Professor W. James, quoted 
in the Journal, S. P. R., 1899, p. 115). In any case it must be admitted 
that it would be extremely difficult to explain by a combination of uncon- 
scious whispering and hyperaesthesia of hearing the results quoted below, 
in which agent and percipient were in different rooms, with door or ceiling 
intervening. 



2 2 Experimental Thought Transference 

room, Mr. Smith being in the lower room, sep- 
arated from the room above by a match-board ceil- 
ing and a wooden flooring covered with a thick 
Axminster carpet. In 148 trials there were 20 
complete successes. Thirty-three trials with the 
positions reversed yielded no success. In 71 fur- 
ther trials Mr. Smith was seated in the passage 
in Mrs. Sidgwick's lodgings in Brighton, Miss 
Johnson sitting between him and the closed door. 
Miss B. was in the room at a total distance from 
the agent varying from 12 to 17 feet. Under these 
conditions 7 complete successes were obtained.^ 

Thus In 252 trials there were 27 complete suc- 
cesses — a number, of course, far beyond the pos- 
sible scope of chance. But 146 trials during the 
same period with Miss B. and Mr. Smith in the 
same room showed 26 complete successes. Clearly 
therefore the slight difference in conditions mate- 
rially affected the results. In view of the startling 
results obtained over much greater distances in 
some later experiments, and in the cases of spon- 
taneous telepathy to be quoted hereafter, it is diffi- 
cult to understand how a slight Increase In distance, 
or the interposition of such obstacles as ceilings and 
doors, could really prejudice the physical process of 
transmission. The explanation of the difficulty is 
possibly, as Mrs. Sidgwick suggests, to be sought 

' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. viii., p. 540. In all the cases quoted I have 
for the sake of simplicity omitted to give the cases in which one digit only 
was correctly named and in its right order. The complete successes show 
such overwhelming odds against chance alone as the cause, that the addition 
of these partial successes would hardly add anything to the demonstration. 



Experimental Thought Transference 23 

in the psychological conditions. On the one hand, 
the parties to the experiments, because of the novel 
conditions, were probably not so sanguine of suc- 
cess. On the other hand, the greater tediousness 
of experiments conducted under such conditions 
would be likely to operate unfavourably. It must 
be recorded that in nearly four hundred trials with 
the same percipient. Miss B., the agent being in an- 
other house, or separated from the percipient by 
two closed doors and a passage, practically no 
success was obtained.' 

Another series of experiments conducted during 
the same period by Mrs. Sidgwick and Miss John- 
son is valuable as illustrating the transference of a 
complicated impression — an imaginary scene. The 
general conditions were the same as in the experi- 
ments already described. The subject of the pic- 
ture would be selected by one of the experimenters 
and communicated in writing to Mr. Smith who 
would then visualise the idea suggested. The 
other experimenter, who would as a rule be left 
in ignorance of the subject chosen, would sit by 
the percipient and, if necessary, question him on 
what he saw. One of the most successful per- 
cipients was P., the young man already referred 
to. Two illustrations may be quoted. The first 
experiment was made on July 9, 1891. 

No. I 

P.'s eyes were not opened and he was told that what he would 
^ Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. viii., p. 547. 



2 4 Experimental Thought Transference 

see would be a magic-lantern picture. (This idea was sug- 
gested to us by Whybrew, who had imagined earlier in the 
same day that he was seeing magic-lantern pictures when Mr. 
Smith was trying to transfer mental pictures to him.) Mr. 
Smith made him see the sheet and then went down-stairs with 
Miss Johnson and was asked by her to think of an eagle pur- 
suing a sparrow. Mrs. Sidgwick, who remained upstairs with 
P., in a few minutes induced him to see a round disk of light 
on the imaginary lantern sheet and then he saw in it " some- 
thing like a bird " (?) which disappeared immediately. He 
went on looking (with closed eyes of course) and presently 
thought he saw "something like a bird — something like an 
eagle." After a pause he said : *' I thought I saw a figure there 
— I saw 5. The bird 's gone. I see 5 again, now it 's gone. 
The bird came twice." Mr. Smith then came up-stairs, and 
P. had another impression of an eagle. He was told that the 
eagle was right and there was something else besides, no hint 
being given of what the other thing was. He then said that 
the first thing he " saw was a little bird — a sparrow perhaps — 
he could not say — about the size of a sparrow ; then that dis- 
appeared and he saw the eagle. He had told Mrs. Sidgwick 
so at the time." 

In the next case, with the same percipient, the 
desired picture could not be elicited without a small 
amount of prompting. The subject set to Mr. 
Smith was " The Babes in the Wood. " 

No. 2 

To begin with P. sat with closed eyes, but when no impres- 
sion came, Mr. Smith opened his eyes without speaking, and 
made him look for the picture on a card. After we had 
waited a little while in vain, Mr. Smith said to him : ** Do you 
see something like a straw hat?" P. assented to this, and 
then began to puzzle out something more : " A white apron, 
something dark — a child. It can't be another child, unless 



Experimental Thought Transference 25 

it 's a boy — a boy and a girl — the boy to the right and the girl 
to the left. Little girl with white socks on, and shoes with 
straps." Mr. Smith asked: "What are they doing? Is it 
two children on a raft at sea ? " P. " No, it 's like trees in the 
background — a copse or something. Like a fairy story — like 
babes in a wood or something." 

It is interesting to note, in the last case, that the 
picture seemed to develop piecemeal, parts of it 
being seen before their relation to the whole was 
recognised. This characteristic is more marked in 
the following case, in which a prominent part of the 
picture, though, it would seem, distinctly seen, was 
misinterpreted in the first instance. The percip- 
ient in this case was Miss B. The subject set was 
a sailing-boat. Mr. Smith at first sat behind a 
screen. At a later stage he came and sat near the 
percipient, but without speaking. 

No. 3 

Miss Johnson, who did not know what the subject of the 
picture was, asked Miss B. whether it was anything like an 
animal. Miss B. said : " No — got some prong-sort of things — 
something at the bottom like a little boat. — What can that be 
up in the air ? — Cliffs, I suppose — cliffs in the air high up — its 
joining the boat — oh, sails — a sailing-boat — not cliffs — sails." 
This was not all uttered consecutively, but partly in answer 
to questions put by Miss Johnson, but as Miss Johnson was 
ignorant of the subject of the supposed picture, her questions 
could of course give no guidance. 

In another case, when the subject set was a cow 
being milked, Miss B. succeeded only in seeing a 
buffalo ! That these imaginary pictures were very 



26 Experimental Thought Transference 

real to the percipients was clearly shown in many 
instances. Here is an account of one of his visions 
given by a youth named Whybrevv : 

No. 4 

On July i6th, Mr. Smith himself hypnotised Whybrew, as 
usual. During the experiment he sat by him, but did not 
speak to him at all after he knew the subject — a man with a 
barrow of fish — given him by Mrs. Sidgwick. Miss Johnson, 
not knowing what the subject was, carried on the conversa- 
tion with Whybrew. He said : " It 's the shape of a man. 
Yes, there 's a man there. Don't know him. He looks like a 
bloke that sells strawberries." Miss Johnson asked : " Are 
there strawberries there ? " Whybrew : " That looks like his 
barrow there. What *s he selling of ? I believe he 's sold out. 
I can't see anything on his barrow — perhaps he 's sold out. 
There ain't many — a few round things, I expect they're 
fruit. Are they cherries ? They look a bit red. Are n't they 
fish ? It don't look very much like fish. If they're fish, some 
of them has n't got any heads on. Barrow is a bit fishified — 
it has a tray on. What colour are those things on the barrow,^ 
They looked red, but now they look silvery." 

Whybrew was rather pleased with this picture, 
and asked afterwards whether it was for sale ! 

No. 5 
The next case may serve to illustrate the danger 
of excessive culture. The experiment came near 
to failure because the percipient, a young man 
named Major, had too lofty a conception of the 
functions of art. ** The subject given was a 
mouse in a mouse-trap. Regarding himself as a 
man of culture and being generally anxious to ex- 



Experimental Thought Transference 27 

hibit this, Major asked if it was to be an old master 
or a modern * pot-boiler. * He was told the latter, 
and he then discoursed on * pot-boilers ' and how he 
knew all the subjects of them — mentioning two or 
three — in a very contemptuous manner. He did 
not seem to see anything, however, and appeared 
to be expecting to see an artist producing a rapid 
sketch. Then, when told that the picture was 
actually there, he suddenly exclaimed : * Do you 
mean that deuced old trap with a mouse ? He 
must have been drawing for the rat-vermin people.' " 
Another interesting series of experiments in the 
transference of imagined scenes is recorded by Mrs. 
A. W. Verrall, of Cambridge. Mrs. Verrall has 
conducted many experiments with H., the agent in 
this case, a child (in 1893) between nine and ten 
years of age, and has found indications of telepathic 
powers, both in H. and herself. 

No. 6. From Mrs. A. W. Verrall 

" In the autumn of 1893 we tried to transfer visualised 
scenes ; in this I believe myself to have had some slight suc- 
cess as percipient with other people. H. and I sat in the 
same room, at some distance, back to back ; she thought of a 
scene or picture, I looked at the ceiling, described what I 
saw, and drew it. There was not complete silence, but no 
leading questions were asked, and very few remarks made. I 
took down at the time, on one occasion [Experiment (d) 
given below], every word that was said, and am sure that no 
sort of hint is given by H., other than the inevitable one of 
satisfaction or disappointment, of which I am conscious, 
though it is not expressed. After my description and draw- 
ing were complete, H. made rough outlines in some cases 



2 8 Experimental Thought Transference 

where her description was not definite enough to please 
her. She did this before seeing my drawings. We have 
made in all seven attempts, besides two where I had no im- 
pression of any kind. Out of these seven, in two cases H.'s 
visualisation was not clear enough to enable her to draw any- 
thing, and in these two cases I failed completely. In one 
case there may have been a connection between my impres- 
sion and H.'s mental picture ; the four remaining cases I will 
describe in detail. 

(a) My description was as follows : 

Darkish centre, perhaps brown ; light or white side pieces ; 
like an odd-shaped chandelier or a gigantic white butterfly. 
Most conspicuous vivid blue background, as if the object 
were seen against a bright blue sky. My drawing is repro- 
duced on the Plate, marked P. i. 

H.'s picture, in her own words : 

Ship leaving Port Gavin, very tall, brown, central mast, 
white sails — the whole showing against a brilliant blue sea, 
with dark brown rocks on one side. For H.'s drawing, see 
Plate, fig. A. i. 

She had seen this on the Cornish coast, when on a visit 
without me, and had been struck with the beauty of colour- 
ing. She was disappointed at my not seeing the rocks. 

(b) My description : 

Fat insect — no, child — child with its back to me, and arms 
and legs stretched out ; colour reddish brown in the centre ; 
shiny bright head, very solid body. (See Plate, fig. P. 2.) 

H.'s picture : 

Baby — in a passion, standing in the corner with his face 
to the wall. 

The child in question had very shining, bright hair, much 
brighter, as H. said, than his frock, which was white (not 
brown). He stood with legs and arms outstretched. 

(c) My description : 

Large globe on the top of a pillar — base indistinct — cannot 
see colour of globe ; it is light, has reflections, is dazzling and 



so Experimental Thought Transference 

bright — perhaps an electric light on the top of a pillar. (See 
Plate, fig. P. 3.) 

H.'s picture : 

Sun setting behind point of hill, so that a little notch is 
taken out of the disc of the sun by the point of the hill. The 
whole scene is distant, lower ranges of hills leading up to the 
highest, behind this is the setting sun. Mist over the lower 
part. (See Plate, fig. A. 3.) 

(d) My description, verbatim. H.'s comments in italics. 

Scene, outdoors — colour, green. Ves. 

Right hand definite, left hand undefined, e. ^. on right hand, 
mountain or hill, line of trees, house. Which ? 

Right hand, hill — green hill, clear outline. Something at 
bottom of hill, behind it sea — or before it. Purplish flat sur- 
face fills middle of picture. Object (at foot of hill) not nat- 
ural — mechanical, geometrical in outline. How large ? 

Can't see size ; colour, white and red. No horizontal lines ; 
(lines) vertical and aslant. 

H.'s picture : 

Dieppe as seen from the steamer (six months before ; H.'s 
first impression of a French town). Cliff sharply defined on 
right ; on left, view cut off by the steamer. Red and white 
houses below the white cliff in the green hill, all seen across 
a dull bluish sea. 

I have given the account of this impression in detail be- 
cause it illustrates the difficulties which I experience in what 
I may call interpretation. The objects present themselves to 
my mind as groups of lines, accompanied by an impression of 
colour, but there are no external objects for comparison, so that 
it is difficult to get any notion of their size — and sometimes, as 
in this last case, they appear in succession, so that even their 
relative proportions are not easy to determine. The " object 
at the foot of the hill " seemed to be equally likely to be 
a house with a red roof and white front, a red waggon with a 
white load, or a child's white pinafore against a red dress. The 
only certainties were that the main colours were red and white, 
and the general trend of the lines vertical and aslant. The 



Experimental Thought Transference 31 

description, is, I think, not inaccurate when referred to the 
view of Dieppe at the foot of the cliffs. Again, in the third 
case, it will be seen that in general outlines the two drawings 
are similar, but I interpreted my impressions on too small a 
scale when I suggested a globe of electric light carried on a 
pillar for what was the sun momentarily resting upon the 
hilltop.* 

The form of these experiments is open to some 
objection : and in ordinary cases it might fairly be 
suspected that the success attained was partly due 
to verbal indications given by the agent, which 
had been through forgetfulness omitted from the 
record. But with an experimenter so scrupulously 
exact as Mrs. Verrall, I am not disposed to think 
that allowance of this kind need be made, and it 
will probably be conceded that the coincidences are 
too striking to be explained as the result of the 
natural concurrence of ideas between mother and 
child. 

In the cases quoted of experiments in the trans- 
ference of imaginary scenes it seems clear that the 
impression transferred from the agent's mind, how- 
ever indistinct, has been of a visual character. 
Sometimes, however, it is the name of the object 

' Proceedings, S. P. R. vol. xi., pp. 180-181. Mrs. Verrall has kindly 
allowed me to see her original notes of experiment (d) with her rough draw- 
ing, made before she learnt from H. the subject set. There is a clear re- 
presentation of a hill with scarped cliff -like outlines to the right, and at the 
foot three upright parallel lines, with oblique lines above them ; lines repre- 
senting a flat surface to the left. I may add that Mrs. Verrall has given 
me an account of the two trials described in the text as complete failures. 
I should have hesitated to use so strong a term ; in one case at least the 
description of Mrs. Verrall's impression, though vague, seems to me not 
inconsistent with the scene thought of by the agent. 



32 Experimental Thought Transference 

which apparently forms the basis of the percipient's 
impression. Well marked instances of this kind of 
transference will be found in some experiments by 
Mr. H. G. Rawson.^ But in experiments of this 
kind at close quarters it is extremely difficult to 
ensure that information shall not be conveyed, 
subconsciously, by muttering or whispering. 

For similar reasons I do not think it necessary 
to quote here any experiments in the transference 
of sensations of smell or taste ; many examples of 
which are to be found amongst the writings of the 
earlier mesmerists. A few experiments of the kind 
are also recorded in our Proceedings, 

Experiments at a Distance 

We have no continued series of experiments at 
a distance at all comparable in importance to the 
Brighton experiments at close quarters. But there 
are several cases where the amount of coincidence 
seems to be beyond what chance could afford. Dr. 
A. S. Wiltse, the agent in the following example, 
has sent us records of a series of experiments made 
in the course of the year 1892 with Mrs. Wiltse, 
his young son, and one or two neighbours. These 
experiments, all at close quarters, showed a consid- 
erable proportion of successes. The following is 
the only experiment made at a distance. One suc- 
cessful experiment had been made with Mr. Raseco 
as agent in the same room. 

^Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. xi., p. 2, 



Experimental Thought Transference 33 

No. 7. From Dr. Wiltse, Kismet, Morgan Co., Tenn. 
Experiment 28 i^Feb.^ i8gi). 

A. S. Wiltse, as agent, attempts to produce a certain image 
in the mind of T. Raseco, since 10 p.m., distance apart about 
200 yards ; both in bed, by appointment, at 9,55 p.m. Agent 
fixes upon the image he will produce, so that no possible hint 
may be exchanged. Meeting the next morning, they exchange 
notes. 

Result, — A. S. W. attempted to make T. Raseco see an 
African jungle, as it would appear at night, with a hunter's 
tent in front, and a tiger glaring out from the jungle. Per- 
cipient to see only the glowing eyes, with ill-defined form back 
of them. 

T. Raseco, the percipient, saw : 

A large and dense mass of bushes, apparently rose-bushes, 
as there seemed an abundant profusion of roses. In the midst 
of this mass appeared two balls of fire, behind which was an 
indistinct bulk which he could not make out. 

{Query : by agent : Why, if the experiment was truly par- 
tially successful, as would seem to be the fact, did percipient 
see roses in place of palms, saw-palms, etc., which were in my 
mind ?) ' 

The example just quoted was, as said, an isolated 
case of experiment at a distance. In the following 
case, however, there was a series of eighteen trials. 
No. 8. From the Rev. A. Glardon 

In 1893 and 1894 the Rev. A. Glardon and a 
friend, Mrs. M., agreed to carry on experiments in 
the transference of mental pictures at a fixed hour 
on certain days ; Mr. Glardon being throughout the 
series in Tour de Peilz, Canton Vaud, and Mrs. M, 
being first in Florence, then in Torre Pellice, Italy, 

* Journal, S. P. R., Feb., 1896, pp. 199, 200. 
3 



Experimental Thought Transference si 

and finally In Corsica. Mr. Glardon at the hour 
previously arranged would draw a diagram or pic- 
ture and concentrate his attention on It ; the per- 
cipient at the same hour would sit, pencil In hand, 
waiting to receive impressions. In four cases, here 
reproduced, the percipient's drawing bore a striking 
resemblance to the original diagram. In several 




other cases there was a resemblance, but less 
marked. The amount of correspondence seems on 
the whole much beyond what would be produced 
by mere association of Ideas. It should be added 
that, with one exception, the whole of the drawings 
made by the percipient on each occasion are repro- 
duced. The exception Is the experiment marked lo. 
The original diagram, as shown, was a Maltese cross 

which the agent notes that he used on January 5th and 6th, 
1894. The percipient made on January 5th, at 9.30 p.m., four 



36 Experimental Thought Transference 

drawings, of which the one most like a Maltese cross is repro- 
duced as R. lo, a. On January 6th at the same hour, she made 
four drawings, none of which are at all like the cross. On 
January 8th, at 9.30 p.m., she made four drawings, the most 
successful of which is reproduced as R. 10, b. On January 9th, 




at 9.30 P.M., she made first two drawings, resembling each other 
pretty closely, and added the note, " same impression as last 
time." One of these is reproduced as R. 10, c. She seems 
then to have gone off on an altogether wrong tack, as nine 
diagrams of a different character, some of them resembling a 



1 



Experimental Thought Transference 37 

flag or a key, follow. Next she appears to have made a fresh 
start, drawing three diagrams, one of which is R. lo, d. To 
these she appends the note : " always come back to the same 
thing. Probably he has sent nothing." Finally, on one cor- 
ner of the sheet, she draws a Greek key pattern, marked 
" afterwards." ' 




The two ladies who conducted the experiments 
next to be quoted have had considerable success in 
previous similar trials. It is to be noted that in 
the first of the two cases quoted the transferred im- 
pression, if indeed it may be claimed as '* trans- 
ferred," was wholly auditory — to wit, fragments of 
the word " candlestick " and the sound of a train. 
In the second experiment, however, the impression 
was visual. There were four experiments alto- 
gether in this series on four successive nights in 
December, 1895. In the other two trials the 

* Journal, S. P. R., 1896, pp. 325-328. 



38 Experimental Thought Transference 

objects of the experiments were diagrams. One 
was a complete failure, the other a partial success. 

No. 9. 

The agent, Miss Despard, was at Strathmore, Surbiton 
Hill Park, Surbiton. She began her letter on December 27, 
11.30 P.M., and continued it day by day after the conclusion 
of each trial. It was not actually posted until the 30th, after 
the conclusion of the series. 

11.30 P.M. 

Dear K., — As you know, we agreed a few days ago to try 
some experiments in thought-transference — to begin to-night 
at II P.M. — alternate nights to think of an object and a dia- 
gram. So to-night I fixed my attention about 11. 4 p.m. on 
a brass candlestick with a lighted candle in it. I feel the re- 
sult will not be very satisfactory, for I found difficulty in con- 
centrating my mind, and not having decided previously what 
object to think of, I looked over the mantelpiece first and re- 
jected two or three things before fixing on the candlestick. A 
very noisy train was also distracting my attention, so I won- 
der if you will think of that. 

December 29th, 11.40 p.m. — I hope this will be more suc- 
cessful. I found to-night I could bring up a much clearer 
mental picture of the object — a small Bristol ware jug about 
six inches high, the lower part being brownish red, of a metal- 
lic coppery colour, the upper part having a band of reddish 
and light purple flowers of a somewhat conventional rose pat- 
tern — handle greenish. I do not think you have seen this jug 
as it has been put away in a cupboard and only lately brought 
out. I saw the jug chiefly by bright firelight. 

The percipient, Miss Campbell, who was in 
Heathcote Street, London, W. C, writes on De- 
cember 29th : 

Dear R., — I have nothing very satisfactory to report. I am 
sorry to say I quite forgot on the 27th about our projected 



Experimental Thought Transference 39 

experiments until I was just getting into bed, when I suddenly 
remembered, and just then I heard a train making a great 
noise, and as I have never noticed it like that before I won- 
dered if it was one of your trains. I could not fix my mind 
on any object, but clock, watch, bath, all flitted past, and the 
circle of firelight in the front room ; the only word that came 
to me was " sand " and a sound like ^ or ^ at beginning of a 
word (you know I as often hear the name of the object as see 
the thing itself). I stopped, for it seemed ridiculous, but you 
must have attracted my attention, for just after I stopped I 
heard the clock here strike the half hour, and found next 
morning it was twenty minutes fast, so when I " suddenly 
remembered," it must have been just after eleven. 

December 29, 11. 15 p.m. — The first thing that came into 
my mind was a sponge, but I think that was suggested by the 
sound of water running in the bathroom, and next I had more 
distinctly an impression of a reddish metallic lustre, and I 
thought it must be the Moorish brass tray on May's mantel- 
piece : but at last I saw quite distinctly a small jug of a 
brownish metallic appearance below, with above a white band 
with coloured flowers, lilac and crimson, on it. I can't be 
sure what it was like at the top, for that seemed to be in 
shadow and seemed to be darkish — perhaps like the bottom, 
but I saw no metallic gleam. I don't remember anything like 
this among May's things, but the impression was so vivid I 
describe it. 

The distance between agent and percipient in 
this series was not less than twelve miles. It is 
important to remark that neither lady saw the 
account written by the other until after the conclu- 
sion of the series of experiments. The original 
letters, in their envelopes, have been handed to us. 

No. 10. From Miss Clarissa Miles and Miss Hermione 

Ramsden 

A longer series of experiments was made by two 



40 Experimental Thought Transference 

ladles in October and November, 1905. The agent 
was Miss Miles, living at 59 Egerton Gardens, 
London, the percipient was Miss Ramsden, of 
Bulstrode, Gerrard s Cross, Buckinghamshire, about 
twenty miles from London. The time of the ex- 
periments was fixed by pre-arrangement. There 
were fifteen trials in all. Subjoined are records of 
five of the trials, selected not merely for their suc- 
cess, but as illustrating the conditions of percipi- 
ence. In the quotations which follow (A) is the 
note made by the agent. Miss Miles, at the time : 
(B) is the note made at the time by the percipient, 
Miss Ramsden, who was of course in ignorance of 
the subject chosen. 

Experiment I 
(A) October i8th, 1905. 7 p.m. 
SPHINX. 

I sat with my feet on the fender, I thought of Sphinx, I 
tried to visualize it. Spoke the word out loud. I could 
only picture it to myself quite small as seen from a distance. 
— C. M. 

(B) Wednesday, October i8th, 1905. 7 p.m. 

Bulstrode, Gerrard's Cross, Bucks. 
I could not visualize, but seemed to feel that you were sit- 
ting with your feet on the fender in an arm-chair, in a loose 
black sort of tea-gown. The following words occurred to 
me : 

Peter Evan or 'Eaven (Heaven). 
Hour-glass (this seemed the chief idea). 
Worcester deal box. 
Daisy Millar. 



Experimental Thought Transference 41 

' X arm socket or some word like it. 

X suspension bridge. 

X Sophia Ridley. 

X soupirer (in French), which I felt inclined to spell sou- 
spirer. 

There is some word with the letter S. I don't seem quite 
to have caught it. — H. R. 

It will be seen that the impression throughout 
was auditory, and that there was a gradual approx- 
imation to the word Sphinx. 

Experiment VII 
(A) October 27th. SPECTACLES. 

CM. 
(B) Friday, Oct. 27th. 7 p.m. 
*' Spectacles." 
This was the only idea that came to me after waiting a long 
time. I thought of " sense perception," but that only confirms 
the above. My mind was such a complete blank that I fell 
asleep and dreamt a foolish dream (but not about you). At 
7.25 I woke with a start. — H. R. 

Miss Miles adds that she had been struck earlier 
in the day by a curious pair of spectacles, and had 
determined to think of them. 

Experiment VIII 
(A) October 31, 1905. SUNSET OVER ORATORY. 

C. M. 

(B) Tuesday, October 31, 1905. 7 p. m. 
First it was the sun with rays and a face peering out of the 
rays. Then something went round and round like a wheel. 
Then the two seemed to belong together, and I thought of 

* The crosses indicate those impressions which Miss Ramsden mdrked at 
the time as being especially vivid. 



42 Experimental Thought Transference 

windmill. A windmill on a hill where it was dark and windy 
and there were dark clouds. Then it became the Crucifixion, 
and I saw the three crosses on the left side of the hill, and the 
face on the cross looked to the right, and it was dark. Wind 
and storm. 

Surely this is right. It is the most vivid impression I have 
ever had. I scarcely visualised at all, it was just the faintest 
indication possible, but the suggestion was most vivid. — H. R. 

Miss Miles adds : 

I was painting Mr. Macnab, and there was a beautiful sunset 
over the Oratory. Mr. Macnab, who was so seated that he 
could watch it better than I could, walked to the window and 
drew my attention to it. His face became illuminated with 
the rays of the sun. It was a very windy, stormy evening, with 
weird orange lights in the sky. The sun sets to the left of the 
Oratory. From my window I see the central figure, and two 
sorts of uprights which look like figures in the dim twilight. 
These three objects show out dark against the sky to the left 
of the dome, on which there is a gold cross. All this I 
visualised the whole evening for Miss Ramsden to see. At 
first I could not account for the windmill. I discovered a 
weathercock in the distance, on the top of a building. — C. M. 

.[A photograph of the Brompton Oratory, taken 
by Miss Miles from the window of her studio, is 
reproduced here.] 

Miss Ramsden adds : 

Hitherto we had settled that Miss Miles was to make me 
think of a definite object, and I sat down as usual with my 
eyes shut, expecting to get a single idea like "spectacles." I 
was very much surprised to see this vision, and believed it 
was a picture of the Crucifixion which she was trying to make 
me see. I looked for the women watching at the foot of the 
cross, and was surprised that I could not see them. This is 
curious, because I distinctly saw a figure on the cross, which 



Experimental Thought Transference 43 

was purely the result of my own imagination. The rays of 
the sun and the cross itself appeared for an instant to be 
luminous. I cannot exactly say how I saw the rest, but it was 
the most vivid impression of the kind that I ever had in my life. 

Experiment X 

(A) November 2nd. HANDS. 

C. M. 
(B) Thursday, November 2nd. 7 p.m. 
You then went upstairs to your bedroom where there was 
no fire, so you put on a warm wrap. 

Then I began to visualise a little black hand, quite small, 
much smaller than a child's, well formed, and the fingers 
straight. This was the chief thing. Then faintly an eye. 
Then W that turned to V, and V turned into a stag's skeleton 
head with antlers. A I P upside down so : V I d. . . . M E 
E might be my name. I was not sleepy when I began, yet it 
soon became impossible to keep awake. . . . The little black 
hand was the most vivid impression. H. R. 

Miss Miles adds that she had been drawing an 
outline portrait in charcoal during the afternoon. 
The sitter states that the part most finished was 
the hands. 

Experiment XII 

(A) Monday, November 6th. MARGUERITE TENNANT. 

C. M. 

(B) Monday, November 6th. 



Thomas ? (Saw some of these letters separately, they seemed 
to spell Thomas.) 

4^ HE (He ?) 

Nothing very vivid to-day. — H. R. 



44 Experimental Thought Transference 

There was a considerable correspondence in some 
of the other experiments in this first series. The 
same ladies made a second series of fifteen trials in 
October and November, 1906, and here also the 
results showed a remarkable correspondence be- 
tween the agent's thoughts and the percipient's 
impressions. The whole record is worth studying 
for the light thrown upon the nature of the per- 
cipient's impressions and on the conditions which 
apparently favour success in experiments of this 
klnd.i 

As already stated we have reproduced many 
of the effects ascribed by the earlier mesmer- 
ists to ** community of sensation " between the 
operator and subject. Amongst other remarkable 
effects which may be ascribed to telepathy, are the 
inhibition of speaking on the part of the hypnotised 
subject by the silent will of the experimenter, and 
the production of sleep at a distance. The classic 
experiments of this character In recent times are 
those conducted by Professor Pierre Janet, Dr. 
Gibert, and later by Professor Richet, with 
Madame B.2 

On the hypothesis of telepathy, the marvel of 
sleep at a distance may of course be explained 
without recourse to subtle fluids and visibly radiant 
will-power. But In the early days of the experi- 
menting in this subject carried on by the Society 

' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xxi., p. 60. 

' See Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. iv., p. 133 seqq.\ vol. v., pp. 43-45; Revue 
de V Ilypnotisme, February, 1888, etc. 



Experimental Thought Transference 45 

for Psychical Research it did appear to some of us 
for a time that we had obtained proof of an actual 
physical effluence from the person of the mesmerist. 
It was found possible with certain susceptible 
subjects to influence a particular finger, without 
the subject's knowledge, so as to paralyse it and 
make it insensitive even to tolerably severe pain. 
The subject's arms would be placed through a 
screen in such a manner that it was impossible 
for him to know which finger or fingers were 
selected for the purpose of the experiment, and 
the. hypnotiser would then direct his eyes and 
hand, at a distance varying from a few inches 
to a few feet, towards the finger selected. If the 
experiment was successful — -and it generally was 
so — the desired result would follow in a minute 
or two. 

In explanation of this remarkable result, Mr. 
Gurney was inclined to assume a direct physical 
influence from the operator's hand affecting lo- 
cally the nervous system of the subject : an in- 
fluence, moreover, which was conditioned by 
the will, since if no result was willed, no result 
foHowed, notwithstanding the presence of the 
operator's hand in close proximity to that of the 
subject. 

Later experiments, however, by Mrs. Sidgwick 
and Miss Johnson have shown that the close prox- 
imity of the agent is not an essential condition. 
The results can be reproduced at a distance of 
twenty-five feet, or when a thick screen of glass is 



46 Experimental Thought Transference 

interposed. It is more in accordance with analogy 
therefore to ascribe the results, like the others dealt 
with in this chapter, to an affection of the central 
rather than the local nervous system.^ 

* See Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. i., pp. 257-260; vol. ii., pp. 201-205 ; 
vol. iii., pp. 453-459 ; vol. v., pp. 14-17 ; vol. viii., pp. 577-596. 



CHAPTER III 

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE : MIND's 
EYE VISIONS 

BEFORE attempting to trace the operation of 
telepathy in a wider field it is necessary to 
utter a word of warning. The experimental evi- 
dence of which a few examples have been cited in 
the last chapter constitutes, and must continue to 
constitute, the main justification for the assumption 
of a new faculty. However calculated to impress 
the imagination may be the narratives which fol- 
low, they are indefinitely inferior in evidential co- 
gency. It was these spontaneous occurrences, with 
their dramatic setting, which first drew attention 
to the subject and which, indeed, first suggested the 
possibility of a new mode of communication be- 
tween mind and mind. But it is doubtful how 
far such occurrences could in themselves have justi- 
fied the belief. The position may be illustrated 
from another field of research. So long as the ex- 
ponents of the germ theory could support their 
position only by arguments derived from the 
observed distribution of certain diseases, their man- 
ner of propagation and development, their periodic 
character — phenomena which, though sufficiently 

47 



48 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

striking, are not In themselves, perhaps, susceptible 
of exact Interpretation — the doctrine remained a 
more or less plausible hypothesis. It was not until 
the germs, whose existence had been so long sus- 
pected, were actually isolated In the laboratory, and 
on being introduced into other animal bodies had 
reproduced the disease, that the association of 
certain maladies with the presence of specific 
micro-organisms in the body became an accepted 
conclusion of science. In both cases the reasons 
for the Inferior cogency of the arguments derived 
from mere observation of spontaneous phenomena 
are the same. We cannot, in spontaneous phe- 
nomena, so control the conditions as to eliminate 
the operation of all possible causes but one ; and 
we cannot rely so implicitly on the accuracy of 
the records. It is the latter circumstance which, 
for our present purpose, constitutes the most seri- 
ous drawback. In most of the spontaneous cases 
here cited, even though it is difficult to satisfy our- 
selves in every case that some obscure association 
of Ideas, some deception of the senses or other un- 
recognised cause, may not have contributed to the 
result, yet the central incident is as a rule suffi- 
ciently striking and unusual to make it practically 
certain that the coincidences, if we consider the 
cases as a whole, are not due to such "accidental " 
causes, provided that we can be sure that the inci- 
dent is correctly described. That Is really the crux 
of the question. The cases of intimation of death 
by dream, waking vision or apparition, cited in this 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 49 

volume, are in themselves sufficiently numerous, as 
a simple calculation will show, to preclude explan- 
ation by chance, if no serious error has vitiated the 
records. 

When Miss Campbell and Miss Despard — to 
take an illustration from the preceding chapter — 
are occupied, the one in present sensation, the other 
in imagination with the same scene, the conditions, 
as said, can be effectively controlled. Further, the 
experimenters have some experience in recording 
their observations : the time of the experiment is 
of their own choosing, so that they are not taken 
unawares : the records are practically contempora- 
neous with the events ; each is made before any 
knowledge of the other's experience is forthcoming. 
Lastly, both parties are necessarily concerned to be 
as accurate as possible in describing their own side 
of the experience, since any fanciful embellishment 
may impair the accuracy of the correspondence. 
But when, to take the strongest case, a man sees 
the vision of a friend at the time of his death, we 
have no such safeguards to ensure the accuracy 
of the record. The vision finds him unprepared 
and often unable to appreciate its significance. 
Even when the impression produced is such as to 
induce the percipient to make a note of the circum- 
stance or to write a letter about it before the cor- 
respondence with the death is known, it is but 
rarely, as the following narratives will show, that 
the contemporary record is preserved. When no 
note is made, and we have to depend entirely on 



50 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

the memory of the narrator writing after the fact 
of the coincidence is known, there are many 
errors from which the most scrupulous of witnesses 
can scarcely hope to hold himself altogether free. 
Often the percipient's experience may be coloured 
in retrospection by the emotion roused by the news 
subsequently received. In any case with the lapse 
of time the picture preserved in the memory is 
liable to be unconsciously brought more and more 
into conformity with the narrator's conception of 
what ought to have happened. One by one irrele- 
vant details drop out, and confirmatory touches are 
added to heighten the tints. As the years pass, 
any interval which may have existed between the 
vision and the death tends to disappear, and the 
two events coalesce, like a binary star, into one. 
The result actually presented to us will, in such 
cases, bear less resemblance to a photograph than 
to a finished picture, in which the crudity and inad- 
equacy of the actual are fulfilled by the unconscious 
craftsmanship of the imagination. No process is 
more difficult to detect and guard against because 
it is, for the most part, instinctive, and involves no 
conscious departure from good faith. The ability 
to tell the exact truth can only, as a rule, be ac- 
quired by a severe process of mental discipline. 

But it would be easy to exaggerate the import- 
ance of these considerations, so far as educated 
witnesses are concerned. Narratives written within 
a few years of the event, and corroborated by the 
testimony of others, may, it is thought, be relied 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 5 1 

upon so far as the central incident is concerned, 
even if the details are liable to unconscious embel- 
lishment. Moreover, the very nature of the emo- 
tion aroused by the incident — as when the death of 
a dear friend is concerned — may in itself prove the 
strongest incentive to accuracy. Taken as a whole 
the reader will probably agree that the narratives 
here quoted bear on their face the marks of their 
authenticity : the witnesses in most cases have ob- 
viously been restrained in narrating their experiences 
by a strong sense of responsibility and of reality. 
And a comparison of the first-hand narratives here 
quoted with each other, and with the second-hand 
ghost stories bandied from mouth to mouth in 
ordinary social intercourse, will suggest that the 
narrators in the former case are describing with 
fair accuracy facts of their own experience ; and 
that those facts constitute a true natural group, 
distinguishable, alike by what they include and by 
what they do not include, from the mere figments 
of the story-teller's imagination, whether invented 
for amusement or for edification. 

The narratives which follow are printed as 
samples, and as samples only, of the evidences 
accumulated by the Society for Psychical Research. 
I have as a rule refrained, lest I should weary the 
reader, from drawing attention to the evidential 
aspect of the case ; and have, for the same reason, 
presented in most cases only a brief summary of 
the corroborative testimony. I have endeavoured, 
however, in all cases, to bring out any evidential 



52 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

defect in such corroborative testimony ; and as the 
reference is always given to the Society's Journal 
or Proceedings, the reader can in every case, if he 
pleases, study for himself the full accounts there 
printed. 

The following account was sent, in French, to 
the late F. W. H. Myers by a well-known man of 
science. Three years ago I myself had the oppor- 
tunity of discussing the incident with the percipient. 
A fragment of a book cover, bearing the words 
mentioned, was enclosed with the account. 

No. II. From Professor , 

Paris, nth December, 1897 

On Friday, December 10, 1897, at about 10.35 p-M., being 
alone and at work in my library, I began to think, without any 
reason, that there had been a fire at the Opera. My wife and 
daughter had gone off to the Opera at 8; I had not been able 
to accompany them. The impression was so strong that I 
wrote F (Feu!) on the cover of a book which lay near me. A 
few instants later, wishing to emphasise this presentiment, I 
wrote "Att" (for attention) "Fire!" I enclose what I 
wrote. I did not, however, feel anxious, but said to myself, 
" There has been no great fire at the Opera, only an alarm 
of fire." 

At the same time, or rather ten or fifteen minutes later, at 
10.55, "^y sister, Madame B., who lives in the same house, and 
whose bedroom is on the same floor with my study, had an 
idea that my study was on fire. She was at the moment on 
the point of getting into bed, but she came en deshabille to my 
study-door and put her hand on the handle to come in; but 
then, telling herself that her fear was absurd, she went back to 
bed. She tells me, however, that she would nevertheless have 
come in but that she was afraid that I had some one with me in 
the room. 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 53 

At 1 2. 10 my wife and daughter came back from the theatre. 
They instantly told me that there had been a sort of beginning 
of a conflagration. I said nothing, and they told me as fol- 
lows: Between 8.45 and 9, at the end of the first act of Les 
Mattres Chanteurs^ a smell of burning and a light smoke were 
perceived in the auditorium. My wife said to my daughter : 
** I will go out and see what is the matter ; if I make a sign to 
you follow me at once without saying a word or even waiting 
to put your cloak on." The attendant whom she asked said 
that nothing was wrong. Nevertheless there was some emo- 
tion among the audience, and five or six persons in the stalls 
got up and went away. The smoke came, no doubt, from a 
stove. Note that this is the first time that my wife ever left 
her seat in a theatre from alarm of fire. It is the first time 
that I have ever been anxious about fire in her absence, and I 
do not suppose that I jot down my possible presentiments more 
than five or six times in a year. 

My sister has never before been anxious about fire in my 
room.* 

It seems not improbable, especially as she con- 
nected the danger with her brother, that Madame 
B. was influenced through him, and not through 
her friends at the opera. It should be added that 
the narrator has had other experiences apparently 
of a telepathic character. ^ 

In this instance the transferred idea, though in 
itself of a sufficiently alarming character, was ap- 
parently almost without emotional accompaniment. 
In many cases, however, the profound emotional 
disturbance caused is the most characteristic feature 
of the impression. In the case which follows, 
whatever the nature of the emotion excited, — and 

^Journal, S. P. R., November, 1898. 



54 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

it does not appear to have been consciously defined 
as fear or anxiety, — it was sufficiently strong to 
impel the percipient to a very unusual course of 
action. 

No. 12. From Mr. T. B. Garrison 

Ozark, Mo., July 29, 1896 

My mother, Nancy J. Garrison, died on Friday night, 
October 4, 1888, at her home three miles north-east of Ozark, 
Christian County, Missouri. She was 58 years old. I was 
then living at Fordland, in Webster County, Missouri, about 
18 miles north-east of my mother's home. I had not seen my 
mother for two months at the time of her death, but had heard 
from [her] by letter from week to week. 

On the night of my mother's death there was a meeting in 
Fordland, and myself and wife attended the preaching. We 
had then one child, a baby a year old. The meeting had been 
going on a week or more. About ten o'clock, just before the 
meeting closed, while the congregation was singing, I felt the 
first desire to see my mother. The thought of my mother was 
suggested by the sight of some of the penitents at the altar, 
who were very warm and sweating. My mother was subject 
to smothering spells, and while suffering from these attacks 
she would perspire freely and we had to fan her. In the faces 
of the mourners I seemed to see my mother's suffering. And 
then the impulse to go to her became so strong that I gave the 
baby to a neighbour-woman and left the church without telling 
my wife. She was in another part of the house. 

The train going west which would have taken me [to] Rog- 
ersville, seven miles of the distance to my mother's place, was 
due at 10.30 P.M., but before I got home and changed my 
clothes and returned to the depot, the cars had left the sta- 
tion. I still felt that I must see my mother and started down 
the railroad track alone, and walked to Rogersville. Here I 
left the railroad and walked down the waggon way leading 
from Marshfield to Ozark, Mo. It was about 3 o'clock A.M, 



spontaneous Thought Transference 55 

when I reached my mother's house. I knocked at the door 
two or three times and got no response. Then I kicked the 
door, but still made no one hear me. At last I opened the 
door with my knife and walked in and lighted a lamp. Then 
my sister, Mrs. Billie Gilley, the only person who had been 
living with my mother, awoke and I asked her where mother 
was. She replied that she was in bed, and I said " She is 
dead," for by that time I felt that she could not be alive. 
She had never failed to wake before when I had entered the 
room at night. 

I went to my mother's bed and put my hand on her fore- 
head. It was cold. She had been dead about three hours 
the neighbours thought from the condition of her body. She 
had gone to bed about ten o'clock at night, feeling better than 
usual. She and my sister had talked awhile after going to 
bed. They were aiming to come to Ozark the next morning, 
and intended to get up early. 

The above facts cover my experience as fully as I can tell 
the story. I have no explanation for the matter. It is as 
much a mystery to me now as ever. I could not believe such 
a strange affair if told by any one else, and yet I could swear 
to every fact stated. . . . 

Thomas B. Garrison.' 

Corroboration of Mr. Garrison's account has 
been received from his wife, his wife's mother, to 
whom he announced his intention of going to 
Ozark just before he started on the journey, and 
from one of the neighbours who were called in to 
assist when the fact of the death was discovered. 

With this may be compared a remarkable case, 
originally recorded by Mr. Andrew Lang in Long- 
mans Magazine, in which two persons indepen- 
dently received a strong impression that something 

> Journal, S. P. R., October, 1897, 



56 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

disastrous had happened in an Edinburgh flat. In 
one case the impression was sufficiently strong to 
induce a neighbour to leave his work and call to 
make enquiries. He found that the maid-servant 
had just been killed by an accident. ^ 

There are one or two cases, resting on good 
evidence, which suggest the possibility of com- 
munication between the animal and the human 
intelligence. Thus Lady Carbery writes that one 
Sunday, having paid her usual visit after lunch to 
a favourite mare, she had returned to the garden 
a quarter of a mile distant, and sat herself down to 
read. Twenty minutes later, feeling an uncom- 
fortable sensation that something was amiss with 
** Kitty," she returned to the stable, and found her 
*' cast" and in need of help.2 

In the following case the impression, though not 
referred to any particular sense, was of a much 
more definite character than those last cited : 

No. 13. From Mr. J. F. Young 

New Road, Llanelly, March 9, 1891. 

The following account of a presentiment I recently had 
may be interesting to you. 

I was having my supper on the evening of February 15th 
last, when a message came from a customer requiring my serv- 
ices. I sent back a reply that I would come immediately I 
had my supper. It has always been a strong point with me 
to keep my appointments, and therefore, having hastily fin- 
ished my meal, I was in the act of leaving the table when I 
suddenly exclaimed, "There! ! ! I have just had an intima- 

' The case is given in full xxv Journal, S. P. R., June, 1S95. 
' Journal, S. P. R., February, 1905. 



spontaneous Thought Transference 57 

tion that Robert is dead " : the Robert referred to is a Robert 
Hallett (a brother-in-law) who was residing near my sister 
(Mrs. Ponting) at Sturminster Newton, Dorset. He had been 
bed-ridden from paralysis for this last two years, but had 
recently been much worse. 

I at once entered full particulars in my diary. Date, Feb. 
15. Message, and time of message, 9.40 p.m. My sister-in- 
law was present the whole time, and can vouch for the cir- 
cumstances. On the 17th I received a post-card from my 
sister at Sturminster Newton, bearing date Feb. i6th, stating, 
that "Robert had passed away, will write to-morrow." 

In the meantime I had written to my sister Mrs. Ponting, 
mentioning my presentiment, and our letters crossed^ for the 
following morning a letter came from her (I must mention 
here she had been assisting in nursing my brother-in-law), 
saying, " I was glad you had a presentiment of poor Robert's 
release, he passed away at 7.45 p.m., then Lottie [my niece 
Lottie Hallett] and I came home //// g.40, and that was the 
time you had the impression." 

I wish to state two facts in connection with the foregoing 
case, (i) I was not thinking of him at the time, my mind 
being engrossed in my appointment, and the impression 
came so startlingly sudden, which caused me to hastily say, 
There! !! . . . as before stated; and (2) at the same moment, 
I had a sense of a presence at my left, so much so, that I 
looked sharply round, but found no one there. 

This was my first and only impression during his long 
illness. 

The note in the diary is as follows^: 

Feb. 15. As I rose from supper, a message came, as if by 
spirit influence, to say, "Robert has passed away." Miss 

• The note occurs, not on the dated pages, but on some blank sheets at 
the end of the diary, amongst other memoranda. The previous memo, is 
dated 12th Feb., the two following entries are dated, in this order, Feb. 
28th and Feb. 19th. The entry of the 15th contains therefore no internal 
evidence of having been written at the time. 



SS Spontaneous Thought Transference 

Bennett present. I said, "There, I have just had an intima- 
tion Robert is dead." Time, 9.40 p.m. Noted full particulars 
on my return: was called away. Had to see a customer on 
business. 

Miss E. Bennett, who was present at the moment 
and Miss Lottie Young, a niece to whom Mr. 
Young related his experience on the following 
morning, have both confirmed the account. Mrs. 
Ponting has searched unsuccessfully for Mr. 
Young's original letter to her announcing his 
presentiment.! 

Mr. Young, it should be added, has had several 
similar impressions which have coincided with ex- 
ternal events. 

Let us now pass on to visual impressions. The 
following case is interesting as showing the peculiar 
vividness with which these mind's eye visions 
occasionally present themselves. 

No. 14. From Miss C. P. M. C. 
(The account was written in the beginning of June, 1889.) 

I distinctly saw a person whom I knew (M. T.) lying in 
bed, and the room and furniture exactly as I last saw it. I 
had the impression of hearing her voice. The impression was 
so vivid that for the time it stopped my reading, and I re- 
member being surprised at it and wondering whether the 
woman were alive or dead. I had had a letter three days 
previously saying she was dying. She had been an invalid 
when I first saw her, so that I never knew her otherwise than 
in bed. 

Place: probably in the Geological Museum. Date: May 
14, 1889, Tuesday, in the morning. 

' jfournal, 5. P. R., May, 1901. 



spontaneous Thought Transference sg 

I was reading geology [at the time]. I was not out of 
health, but I was in anxiety on quite a different subject.* 

M. T., as we have ascertained from the Register 
at Somerset House, died at Heaton N orris on the 
14th May, 1889. Miss C. heard of the death a 
day or two afterwards, and fixed the exact date of 
her vision by an entry in a diary, referring to an 
incident which she remembered to have occurred 
on the same day as the vision. She added that 
she had had no other experience which impressed 
her so much ; she had, however, a faint impression 
of " something like it " having occurred when she 
was a schoolgirl, but she cannot remember details. 

In the next case all the details given are trivial, 
but the amount of correspondence is sufficient to 
make it probable that the result was not a mere 
happy conjecture ; and, as we have seen both the 
original notes made by the percipient and the letter 
from Rome, it is certain that the facts are accu- 
rately stated ; in this respect the case stands almost 
on the evidential level of some of the experiments 
quoted in the last chapter. The following is a 
copy, made by Mr. Piddington, then Pi on. Secretary 
of the Society for Psychical Research, of a note 
written by Mrs. D. on 27th January, 1900. 

No. 15. From Mrs. D. 

Saturday, Jan. 27, 1900. This afternoon while I was sit- 

* Proceedings y S. P. R., vol. x., p. 83. Miss C.'s narrative, it should be 
explained, was given in answer to set questions contained on one of our 
*' Census " forms. See below, chapter v. 



6o Spontaneous Thought Transference 

ting near the fire talking to L., I was holding a small photo 
of Mrs. H. and describing her. " Where is she now ? " asked 
L. " In Rome," I answered, ** settled for the winter." And as 
I spoke, suddenly I felt conscious of what she might be doing 
at the time. " Do you know," I went on, '* I think she must be 
just coming out of her room on to a high terrace such as we 
have here, only that there is green over it." L. did not say 
" nonsense," but just asked quietly: "What is she wearing?" 
"A black skirt," I answered, "and a mauve blouse — she is 
looking out over many roofs and spires — and now she has 
gone back into the room and a maid is closing the shutters." 
" Can you see her room ?" asked L. "I think it is small, " I 
said; " there is a cottage-piano and a writing-table near it. 
I think the large head of Hermes stands on it and something 
silver." And then I felt nothing more and added: "What 
nonsense I have been talking! " L. thinks there may be some 
truth in the impression, and wants me to write and ask Mrs. 
H. what she remembers of this afternoon. It was about 
6 o'clock. 

I cannot say I saw anything; somehow I seemed to feel 
her surroundings were just so. I have never been to Rome, 
nor has she told me anything of where she lives beyond the 
address. 

Copy of extracts selected by J. G, P, from a letter addressed by 
Mrs. H. to Mrs. D, Postmark of envelope :'^ 6 2 oo Roma " 

.... You certainly have a power to visit your friends, 
and to see them, and to make them feel you. Your letter is 
absolutely startling and mysterious. And now I can answer 
it detail for detail, and item for item. [The writer then avows 
her belief in telepathy and clairvoyance.] . . . That you 
have peeped at me in my small Roman house is certainly a 
fact. As you state the facts, every small detail is not altogether 
exact, but the facts as a whole are true and exact and perfect, 
as you shall see. 

Let me begin by answering bit by bit all you say. I have 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 6i 

a dear little vine-covered terrace, looking out into the Piazza 
di Spagna, and looking also right up to the spires or rather 
towers of S. Trinita dei Monti, with the great obelisk in front. 
The afternoon of Jan. 27th I returned to my home after a 
walk and [after] making a few purchases, at 5 p. m. I took 
off my fur jacquette, and went at once into my dining-room to 
see about the dinner-table, as three friends came [or " come "] 
at 7 p. M. to dine. I busied myself about the table for some 
time, then stepped on to the terrace (which is so pretty, but 
opens, unfortunately, from the kitchen). I went into the 
terrace at that time to see about our dessert for dinner, which 
I had put there to become cool. Then I went back into the 
dining-room, and as the hanging-lamp had just been lighted, I 
ordered the maid to drop the outside curtains. She did so. 
I remember that I looked just then at the clock, and it was 
5.35 p. M. I had on a black skirt, a black silk blouse, and 
a mauve tie, which twisted about my neck and hung in two 
ends to my waist. It looked to you like a mauve blouse. 
Then I went into our small salon and took something from 
the table. I remember it distinctly. Our salon is very small; 
there is an upright piano and a writing-table, on which are 
photos and books too, and a lot of little silver things. Hermes 
(your photo to me) stands very near, on another little table, 
quite near, in fact. It is all quite mysterious. I believe you 
have really peeped into my house.' . . . 

Vivid and detailed visions of the kind given in 
the last two narratives are of rare occurrence with 
persons in a state of normal wakefulness. The 
early mesmerists, both in this country and in France 
and Germany, have recorded many cases where the 
subject in a state of trance purported to have visions 
of distant scenes and of the persons taking part in 
them: and these descriptions were in many cases 

» Journal, S. P. R., October, 1906. 



62 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

subsequently verified. To the faculty supposed to 
be thus demonstrated the name of "travelling clair- 
voyance" was given by the English mesmerists, it 
being assumed that the spirit of the percipient left 
the body and was actually present in some fashion 
at the scene described. Even if we accept the facts, 
there is of course no need to adopt so fantastic an 
explanation. From our ignorance, however, of the 
attendant circumstances, and especially of the op- 
portunities which may have offered for fraud, it is 
difficult to place much reliance on these older 
records. A few similar cases have, however, been 
recorded by competent observers in recent years: 
one or two examples are quoted in chapter xiv. 

But outside of the hypnotic trance the most 
favourable conditions for clairvoyance of this kind 
appear to be found in crystal vision. It is not quite 
clear what part the crystal plays in facilitating the 
emergence of these dream-visions. The quietness 
and freedom from external distraction no doubt 
contribute to the result. But it seems probable 
that the mere act of fixing the gaze and the atten- 
tion on a bright object is liable to induce slight dis- 
sociation of consciousness. Further it is likely that 
in some cases the crystal furnishes 2l point de rep^re 
— a nucleus of actual sensation — round which the 
imaginary scene is built up. 

Mr. Andrew Lang has within the last few years 
collected amongst his acquaintances many instances 
of scrying or crystal vision, from which I select the 
following : 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 63 

No. 16. From Miss Angus ^ 

4th January, 1898. 
I had another successful scry on Tuesday evening, 21st 

December, 1897, when Mr. Mac asked me to look in the 

ball. He had never seen crystal gazing, so I told him to fix 
his mind on some scene, which I would endeavour to describe. 
Almost at once I saw a large room with a polished floor reflected, 
the lights being very bright and all round ; but the room was 

empty, which I thought very uninteresting! Mr. Mac said 

how strange that was, as he had not, so far, been able to fix 
his mind on any particular face in the ballroom. However, 
he asked me to look again, and this time I saw a smaller room, 
very comfortably furnished, and at a small table under a bright 
light with a glass globe (no shade on the globe) sat a young 
girl, in a high-necked white blouse, apparently writing or read- 
ing. I could not see her face distinctly, but she was pale, with 
her hair drawn softly off her forehead (no fringe), and seemed 
to have rather small features. 

Mr. Mac said my description quite tallied with the lady 

he was thinking of, a Miss , whom he had met for the 

first time at a ball a few nights before, but he had meant me to 
see her dressed as he met her in the ballroom. 

We consulted our watches, and found that it was between 

10.15 ^^^ I0-30 when we were scrying, and Mr. Mac said 

he would try to find out what Miss was doing at that hour. 

Fortunately I had not long to wait for his report, as he met 
her the next evening, and told her of my experiment. She was 
very much interested, I believe, and said it was all quite true! 
She had been wearing a white blouse, and, as far as she re- 
members, she was still reading at 10.30 under a bright incan- 
descent light, with a glass globe on it. 

Mr. Mac writes : 

December 30, 1897. 
I was at Miss Angus's house on Tuesday, December 21st, 
1897. Miss Angus said that if I thought of somebody she 

» Journal, S. P. R., May, 1899. 



64 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

would look in her crystal ball and find out the personal ap- 
pearance of the person of whom I was thinking, and what he 
or she was doing at that moment (10.25 P-M-)- She told me 
to think of the surroundings and the place in which I had last 
seen the person of whom I was thinking. I thought of some- 
body that she did not know — Miss , whom I had nvet at a 

dance on December 20th. I thought of the ballroom where I 
had been introduced to her, but at first I could not centre my 
mind on her face. Then Miss A. said that she saw a big room 
with a polished floor, and which was brilliantly lit up, but that 
at present she could not make out any people there. Then I 

succeeded in fixing my mind on Miss 's face, when Miss 

A. said that she saw a girl with fair wavy hair either writing a 
letter or reading, but probably the former, under a lamp with 
a glass globe, and that she had a high-necked white blouse on. 
All this took about five minutes. 

I saw Miss again at a dance on December 2 2d — the 

next night. I told her what had happened, and she said that, 
as far as she remembered, at 10.25 the night before she had 
been either writing a letter or reading, but probably writing, 
under an incandescent gas-light with a glass globe, and that she 
had been wearing a high-necked white blouse. 

I had only known Miss Angus for a very short time, so she 

did not know what friends I had in . I do not think that 

Miss Angus knows Miss . There were three other people 

in the room all the time, one of whom was playing the 
piano. This is exactly what happened, as far as I can 
remember. 

Sometimes the part of the crystal is taken by a 
glass of water, or other shining surface. We have 
a narrative from the wife of an engine-driver who, 
waking up at 3 a.m. one night, saw in a glass of 
water by her bedside a vision of a railway accident. 
At about that time her husband was actually passing 
near the scene of an accident, similar to the scene 



spontaneous Thought Transference 65 

in the water vision, which had occurred a few hours 
previously.^ 

In the following case it may be conjectured that 
the conditions of a spiritualist seance, the quiet- 
ness, the freedom from preoccupation, and the 
partial darkness were favourable to the emergence 
of a clairvoyant vision. 

For the evidence we are indebted to Mr. W. W. 
Baggally, of No. 23 Lower Phillimore Place, Ken- 
sington, W., a member of the Society, who is 
acquainted with the principal witnesses in the case 
and has full confidence in their integrity. 

No. 17. From Mr. John Polley,'' 

95 Church St., Stoke Newington, 

London, N., June, igoi. 

At a stance held within the sound of Big Ben on May 8th, 
1901, there were present Mrs. E. V. M., Mr. Thomas Atwood, 
and myself. As Mr. Atwood resumed his seat after delivering 
an invocation (about 8.30 p.m.), I became aware of a vision, 
which presented itself on the left of where I was seated. The 
scene appeared as being some 5 feet distant from me, and dis- 
played part of the interior of a room, viz., that part where the 
stove stood. The fire in the stove was small and dull, and close 
beside it was an overturned chair. In front of the fire was 
something that looked like a fire-guard or clothes-horse, but 
this was not quite clear to me. Playing or climbing over this 
article was a child, who fell forward, and, when it regained its 
feet, I noticed that its dress was on fire. 

I made no reference to the matter at the time, as I had an 
impression that the vision might be connected with some oc- 
currence in the family of Mrs. M., and I was averse to 
mentioning it for fear of awaking sad memories. 

' Journal, S. P. R., December, 1903. 
^ yournal, S. P. R., January, 1902. 
5 



66 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

After some manifestations of movements of the table round 
which we were seated the whole vision was repeated, and this 
time I had an uncontrollable impulse to speak. Upon my 
describing what I had just seen for the second time, I was 
much relieved to hear that the matter was not recognised as 
being connected in any way with the sitters. I may mention 
here that the child appeared to be about three years old, and, 
judging from the style of dress, I described it as a girl, although 
the vision would apply equally well to a boy, as, at that early 
age, the short clothes worn by both sexes would be very 
similar. 

Next Thursday morning. May 9th, 1901, upon awakening, I 
described to my wife the events of the previous evening's 
stance. On the evening of the same day, viz., Thursday, 
May 9th, I was out with a friend, and upon my return home 
at 1 1.5 P.M. my sister, Mary Louisa PoUey (who resided with 
me at that time), made the remark, " I have a piece of bad 
news for you, Jack." " Well," I replied, " what is it ? let me 
know," and she answered, " Brother George's little son Jackie 
has been burned to death." Like a flash I realised the con- 
nection of the sad event with my vision of the previous night. 
I then asked her (my sister), " How did you know this, and 
when?" She replied, " Mr. Fred Sinnett told me when he 
came over to see us this evening." John Pollev. 

Mr. Polley's statement is confirmed by the other 
sitters at the seance, by his wife and sister, and by 
the father of the child. The accident happened on 
May 7th, and the child died before noon on the 
following day, the day of the seance. Mr. Fred G. 
Polley, the father of the child, explained that he 
sent no intimation to his brother of the accident or 
death until Thursday, May 9th. 

In the cases so far cited, where the impression 
has been sufficiently definite to evoke a specific 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 67 

sense-Image, that image has been of a visual type. 
The percipient's experience has not indeed been of 
such a character as to lead him to mistake what he 
saw for external reality — he has not been the sub- 
ject of a hallucination. Nevertheless he has seen 
something, if only, as we may say, with the mind's 
eye. This is the commonest and the most impres- 
sive form assumed by these messages, when they 
fall below the level of actual hallucination. More 
rarely, the telepathic impulse expresses itself as an 
inner voice, or other articulate sound. Impressions 
of this character are as a rule less evidentially con- 
clusive than those affecting the sense of sight : they 
contain less detail ; it is difficult to eliminate the 
possibility of an external cause ; and even when it 
is certain that the impression was subjective, the 
words frequently consist only of the percipient's 
own name. In the following case, however, the 
correspondence appears to be sufficiently detailed 
to exclude the operation of chance : and the coin- 
cidence, it will be seen, is attested by a post-card 
written before the correspondence was known. 

No. 18. From Frau U., 

21st February, 1902. * 

On the evening of February 25, 1897, 1 was sitting alone, as 
I almost invariably did, and reading, when I suddenly thought 
of the Beethoven Trio, Op. i, No. i, so vividly that I got up 
to look for the music, which I had not touched for nearly 
twenty years. It was just as if I could hear the 'cello and 

* jfournal, S. P. R., May, 1903. The account in the text is translated from 
the original German. 



68 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

violin parts, and the bowing and expression seemed to me to 
be that of two gentlemen who had played with me often in C. 
so many years before. One of them, Kammermusiken L., first 
'cellist of the Residenz Theatre in C, had been my eldest 
son's master, but had been called to H. in 1878. The other, 
who was employed by my husband at that time, as clerk of the 
works, had subsequently quitted C. also, and removed in the 
middle of the nineties to H. I had often seen him since he 
left C, and had also played duets with him, but never again in 
a trio. I got out the piano part and began to play. I must 
here admit that I had played with Z. and L. principally the 
Trio in B sharp. Op. 97, and the one in C flat. Op. i. No. 3, 
and was myself surprised that this Op. i, No. i, which we had 
hardly ever played, was ringing in my ears. At any rate I 
heard with my mental ear this melody so exactly that I played 
the piece right through to the end. 

About ten o'clock the bell rang and my house-mate, the 
daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel G., who lived over me, came 
in. She apologised for her late visit and assured me that she 
could not sleep until she had found out what I had been play- 
ing. I supplied the information, and she remarked, " Well, 
what brought that into your head ? " "I don't know. I 
have n't opened the book for twenty years, but before I began 
I heard Z. and L. playing and I felt I must recall the full 
harmony." 

The next day but one the enclosed card came ; it had been 
written, as we established by subsequent correspondence, on 
the same evening and at the same time, and as the postmark 
shows, delivered [in Kiel] the following [should be " the next 
but one "] morning. 

The following is a translation of the post-card : 

H., 25 Feb., '97. 
After playing Beethoven Op. i, No. i, we send you hearty 
greetings in remembrance of happy hours spent together in 
the past. Z., R. L. 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 69 

The card bears the postmark " H -26. 2.97. 8-9 
V " (V = A.M.) Fraulein G. writes that she remem- 
bers Frau U. playing the piece in question ; and 
that Frau U. told her that she had not played it 
for many years. This incident is fully discussed in 
the Journal for May, 1903, and from the more de- 
tailed account there given it seems clear that the 
coincidence was not due to ordinary association of 
ideas or to any external suggestion. 

We have a few examples of sensations of smell, 
touch, or pain which appear to have originated by 
thought transference. 

One example of the last category maybe quoted. 
The percipient's experience, it may be thought, 
was, as described, sufficiently vivid and lifelike to 
be reckoned as an actual sensation ; and the fact 
that she employed physical remedies for it would 
seem to confirm this view. It is here classed, how- 
ever, with mental impressions, because with sensa- 
tions of a tactile or a painful nature we have not the 
same criterion as we possess in the case of affections 
of the higher senses to distinguish between what is 
due to an external cause, and what is purely sub- 
jective. The feeling of pain, especially, is so fre- 
quently excited by causes within the organism that 
in many cases it must remain a matter of doubt 
whether to seek for the origin of the discomfort 

within or without. 

No. 19. 

Mrs. Castle writes from Minneapolis in May, 1896^: 

» Journal, S. P. R., October, 1898. 



70 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

On the first day of last July (1895), while resting late in the 
afternoon, I suddenly experienced a constrictive sensation in 
my throat, accompanied by a numbness, which increased for 
some time, and finally became so distressing that I bathed and 
rubbed my throat several times — while dressing, soon after it 
began, — using also a mental treatment (in which I am a firm 
believer). I could discover no cause within myself for such a 
sensation, which was unlike anything I had ever experienced 
before. It occurred to me that it might be due to some in- 
fluence outside of myself, and I thought of my husband with 
some anxiety, but I remember that the fear for his safety 
was dissipated by the ludicrous thought that nothing but a 
" hanging " would be an excuse for such symptoms. I thought 
also of a friend (Mrs. Baldwin) who was stopping with me at 
the time. She had gone out that afternoon, and was not in 
the house when this occurred. 

A stiff collar had been a source of annoyance to her fre- 
quently, and I thought of that as a possible cause for my dis- 
comfort, knowing that she was wearing a freshly laundried 
shirt-waist at the time. She came in for a few moments to 
announce her intention of dining out, and I asked her if her 
collar had made her uncomfortable that afternoon. She as- 
sured me to the contrary, and I told her of my strange experi- 
ence. We discussed it while she was in, and soon after she 
left Mr. Castle (my husband) came home to dinner. 

Mr. Castle's account of his experience is as 
follows : 

On the afternoon of the first day of July, 1895, I unex- 
pectedly had an operation performed on my throat by Dr. 
Bell. 

To allow for the passing off of the effects of anaesthetic used 
in my throat he told me to remain quiet awhile after the oper- 
ation. But I thought I could save time by sitting in the bar- 
ber's chair, and so walked about — yards to a barber's shop. 
There I was soon seized with a terrible choking sensation 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 71 

which frightened the barber and myself very greatly. I re- 
mained sitting there nearly an hour before I could go on. On 
arriving home about 6 p.m. I told Mrs. Castle that I came near 
getting in a bad fix. On her asking " When ? " I said 
"About an hour and a half ago." She then described her 
sudden constricted sensation about that same time, and her 
telling Mrs. Baldwin of it. 

This is the only time I have had such a sensation in my 
throat. 

Mr. Castle adds that there have been other ap- 
parent instances of thought transference between 
himself and Mrs. Castle. 

Mrs. Baldwin writes to say that she remembers 
the incident described. 

The narrative recalls the experimental cases of 
" community of sensation " referred to in the last 
chapter. But here agent and percipient instead of 
being in the same room were several miles apart. 
It is to be noted that in the present case, as in our 
own experiments, the discomfort caused appears to 
have been by no means of an ideal character. In 
another case of the kind Mr. E. E. Robinson tells 
us that lying in bed one Sunday morning he ex- 
perienced an acute pain in his thumb, and held up 
the hand to see if it had actually been injured. At 
the moment Mrs. Robinson, who was dressing, 
exclaimed that her thumb hurt her so much as to 
cause difficulty in dressing.^ 

It occasionally happens that the influence of a 
distant friend appears to be reflected, not in the 

* Journal, S. P. R., May, 1907. 



72 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

percipient's consciousness, but In his actions. The 
cases are too numerous to allow us to dismiss them 
as merely chance correspondence. But we are not 
bound to conclude that the telepathic impulse has 
power directly to affect the muscular system. In 
accordance with the view already suggested, that 
telepathy operates more readily on the subcon- 
sciousness, or, if we prefer so to phrase it, on the 
lower cerebral centres, we may suppose that so far 
as the agent Is concerned the process of transmis- 
sion is alike in all cases ; and that It is the percip- 
ient's organism which Is responsible for translating 
the transmitted impulse now into an idea, now into 
an action. The most striking illustrations of this 
kind of thought transference are to be found in au- 
tomatic writing. The subject of automatic writing 
however. Is complicated with other considerations, 
and it will probably be better to defer dealing with 
it until a later chapter. The following case, how- 
ever, may be cited in this connection, since it 
appears clear that the news communicated did not 
rise to consciousness until In the act of utterance. 

No. 20. From Archdeacon Bruce * 

St. Woolos' Vicarage, Newport, 
Monmouthshire, July 6th, 1892. 

On April 19th, Easter Tuesday, I went to Ebbw Vale to 
preach at the opening of a new iron church in Beaufort parish. 

I had arranged that Mrs. Bruce and my daughter should 
drive in the afternoon. 

' Journal, S. P. R., December, 1893. 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 73 

The morning service and public luncheon over, I walked up 
to the Vicarage at Ebbw Vale to call on the Vicar. As I went 
there I heard the bell of the new church at Beaufort ringing for 
afternoon service at 3. It had stopped some little time before 
I reached the Vicarage (of Ebbw Vale). The Vicar was out, 
and it struck me that I might get back to the Beaufort new 
church in time to hear some of the sermon before my train left 
(at 4.35). On my way back through Ebbw Vale, and not far 
from the bottom of the hill on which the Ebbw Vale Vicarage 
is placed, I saw over a provision shop on e of those huge, staring 
Bovril advertisements — the familiar large ox-head. I had seen 
fifty of them before, but something fascinated me in connec- 
tion with this particular one. I turned to it, and was moved to 
address it in these, my ipsissima verba: "You ugly brute, 
don't stare at me like that: has some accident happened to the 
wife ? " Just the faintest tinge of uneasiness passed through 
me as I spoke, but it vanished at once. This must have been 
as nearly as possible 3.20. I reached home at 6 to find the 
vet. in my stable-yard tending my poor horse, and Mrs. Bruce 
and my daughter in a condition of collapse in the house. The 
accident had happened — so Mrs. Bruce thinks — precisely at 
3.30, but she is not confident of the moment. My own times I 
can fix precisely. 

I had no reason to fear any accident, as my coachman had 
driven them with the same horse frequently, and save a little 
freshness at starting, the horse was always quiet on the road, 
even to sluggishness. A most unusual occurrence set it off. 
A telegraph operator, at the top of a telegraph post, hauled up 
a long flashing coil of wire under the horse's nose. Any horse 
in the world, except the Troy horse, would have bolted under 
the circumstances. 

My wife's estimate of the precise time can only be taken as 
approximate. She saw the time when she got home, and took 
that as her zero, but the confusion and excitement of the walk 
home from the scene of the accident leaves room for doubt as 
to her power of settling the time accurately. The accident 
happened about 2J miles from home, and she was home by 



74 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

4.10; but she was some time on the ground waiting until the 
horse was disengaged, etc. 

W. CONYBEARE BrUCE. 

Archdeacon Bruce adds later : 

May 20th, 1893. 
I think I stated the fact that the impression of danger to 
Mrs. Bruce was only momentary — it passed at once — and it 
was only when I heard of the accident that I recalled the im- 
pression. I did not therefore go home expecting to find that 
anything had happened. W. Conybeare Bruce. 

Mrs. Bruce writes: 

The first thought that flashed across me as the accident 
happened was, "What will W. say?" My ruling idea then 
was to get home before my husband, so as to save him alarm. 

In this case, it will be noticed, the pictorial ad- 
vertisement appears to have played an analogous 
part to the crystal in a crystal vision. 

We have a few other examples in which the im- 
pulse has led directly to action — prayer, the taking 
of a journey, etc. M. Flammarion in his book, 
L! Inconnu et les problhnes psychiques, quotes a 
curious case. The narrator, after explaining that in 
childhood he was "encore un peu d^vot," and in the 
habit of saying his prayers nightly, relates that one 
evening, when twelve years of age, he prayed for 
his grandmother with unusual fervour, and on clos- 
ing his eyes had a vision of that relative. The next 
day he learned that his grandmother had died 
at that hour. The effect of that experience on its 



spontaneous Thought Transference 75 

subject offers a curious example of perverted logic. 
*' Depuis ce moment," he concludes, "comme je 
m'etais adresse a Dieu pour me conserver ma 
grand'mere longtemps, et qu'il ne m'a pas exauce, 
j'ai cesse avec raison de croire en lui." 



CHAPTER IV 

SPONTANEOUS THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE : COINCIDENT 

DREAMS 

THE belief that In sleep are revealed things 
hidden from the common daylight is coeval 
probably with the beginnings of human history. 
The savage cult of spirits and the belief in survival 
after death are traced by modern anthropologists 
to the mysterious visions of dream-life. The 
dreamer and the interpreter of dreams are alike 
held in high honour amongst primitive races : 
and it is hardly necessary to remind the reader that 
soothsaying by dreams is not even yet obsolete in 
our own and other civilised countries. 

Now it may be claimed that the hypothesis of 
telepathy has given a new meaning to the interpre- 
tation of dreams. It was no doubt the frequent 
occurrence in dreams of mysterious correspondences 
with things actually happening in the world outside 
the dreamer's mind which first called attention to 
the subject: and in sleep, If anywhere, we may ex- 
pect to find traces of the operation of telepathy, for 
the quiescence and almost complete freedom from 
external disturbance which characterise that state 
are precisely the conditions which are Indicated as 
favourable to the reception of stimuli so weak as 
are presumably these messages from other minds. 

76 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 77 

We have evidence, of course, that other stimuH, 
too faint to make their presence known in the 
tumuh of our waking hours, frequently emerge into 
consciousness in sleep. In this way we seem to 
revert in dreamful sleep to a more primitive stage 
of consciousness, which was ours, perhaps, far back 
in planetary history, before our lives were sharply 
divided up into alternating periods of helpless slum- 
ber and waking activity. But, though in the study 
of dreams we may find interesting and valuable 
illustrations of the working of telepathy, the de- 
monstration of a supersensuous mode of communica- 
tion between mind and mind rests primarily, as has 
already been said, upon the experimental results of 
which brief samples have been given in a previous 
chapter. For dream-coincidences, however strik- 
ing, can in themselves afford even less support to 
the theory than the waking visions dealt with in the 
last chapter. For this evidential inferiority there 
are several reasons. In the first place, dreams are 
as the sands on the seashore in number ; many 
persons have dreams every night of their lives. St. 
Augustine tells us in his Confessions that a wise 
friend warned him that astrology was a false science. 
*' Of whom," said the Saint, ** when I had demanded 
how then could many true things be foretold of it, 
he answered me, * that the force of chance diffused 
throughout the whole order of things brought this 
about.' " The force of chance still operates, and 
undoubtedly many dream-coincidences must be at- 
tributed to normal causes. In the second place, 



78 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

most dreams leave but a slight impression on the 
mind even of the dreamer ; and the memory of them 
is usually very vague and elusive. There is a seri- 
ous risk, therefore, that when the partial cor- 
respondence of a dream with some external event 
comes to be known, the details of the indefinite 
picture preserved in the memory may be filled in 
to suit the facts — a process, it may be added, which 
implies no want of honesty on the part of the 
narrator ; most of us probably ** improve " our 
dreams unconsciously even on the first telling. 
Again the indefiniteness of dream memories comes 
partly from the fact, as already said, that the 
original impressions are in most cases weak ; partly 
from the circumstance that the dream, unlike a 
vision seen with the eyes open, has no relations 
either in time or space, and forms no part in an 
associated chain of memories. This last objection 
does not, of course, apply to dreams which occur in 
a brief sleep in the daytime ; and it is worthy of 
note that we have in our collection several remark- 
able coincidental dreams, of unusual vividness, 
which have occurred in such brief moments of 
slumber snatched from the waking hours. 

From all this it follows that only those dreams 
are worthy of record in this connection which were 
noted down before their correspondence with the 
event was known, or which were at least told to 
some one else beforehand. In any case, in a dream- 
story, the interval between its occurrence and the 
committal of it to writing should be of the briefest. 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 79 

Again, dreams are of little account unless the co- 
incidence is very striking, and unless the dreams 
themselves are distinguished from the common 
ruck of our nightly visitants by some unusual 
quality — e, g., by their superior vividness or by 
the intensity of the emotion which accompanies 
them. 

B even when the dream is well attested, when 
the experience was unusually vivid, and the coinci- 
dence striking, there are many cases in which the 
dream can be explained by normal causes. There 
are, for instance, several dreams in our collection 
dealing with lost property ; a brooch hidden under 
leaves and loose gravel in the garden, a box of 
stolen property secreted by burglars in the coal 
cellar — to quote two instances only — have been re- 
covered through dreams. But in cases of this kind 
it is probable that the dream may be founded on 
slight indications actually seen by the eyes, which 
failed in the crowd of waking sensations to gain 
attention at the time, and did not actually emerge 
into consciousness until sleep offered a vacant op- 
portunity. Again, we have a case in which an 
American bank director was awakened from his 
sleep by the noise of a heavy explosion, dressed 
himself, and went out in the town to see what had 
happened. Notwithstanding the fact that on that 
very night the safe at a bank thirty miles away in 
which he had a large interest was blown up by 
dynamite, I should hesitate, in view of the fre- 
quency of unexplained noises, to ascribe a dream 



So Spontaneous Thought Transference 

of this kind to telepathy. Again, a neighbour of 
mine on the night of June 24-25, 1894, dreamt that 
President Carnot had been assassinated, and told 
his family before the morning paper which an- 
nounced the news had been opened. But in a case 
of that kind it seems possible that the information 
may have reached the sleeper In his dreams from 
the shouts of a newsboy, or even from the conver- 
sation of passers-by in the street. 

The reader will be able to judge for himself how 
far the examples which follow conform to the 
standard set up, and how far it is probable that 
the coincidences described have been due to normal 
causes. 

In the first case to be quoted, two friends, at a 
distance of some miles from each other, had similar 
dreams. 

The incident bears some resemblance to an ex- 
periment in the transference of an imaginary scene. 
Dr. Gleason's dream, as shown by the entry in her 
diary, occurred between 2 and 3 a.m. on Wednes- 
day, January 27, 1892. The other percipient's 
account unfortunately leaves it doubtful whether 
his dream occurred, as would naturally be inferred 
from his opening sentence, on the night of Tues- 
day-Wednesday, or on the night of Monday-Tues- 
day. In any case it seems clear that both the 
dreams had already taken place before the dreamers 
met : and the details of the dreams are so bizarre 
that it is difficult to suppose that they could both 
arise independently. 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 8t 

No. 21. From Dr. Adele A. Gleason* 
The Gleason Sanitarium, Elmira, N. Y., February, 1892. 

The night of Tuesday, January 26, 1892, 1 dreamed between 
two and three o'clock that I stood in a lonesome place in 
dark woods ; that great fear came on me ; that a presence as 
of a man well known to me came and shook a tree by me, and 
that its leaves began to turn to flame. 

The dream was so vivid that I said to the man of whom I 
dreamed when I saw him four days later, " I had a very- 
strange dream Tuesday night.'* He said, " Do not tell it to 
me ; let me describe it, for I know I dreamed the same thing." 

He then without suggestion from me duplicated the dream, 
which he knew, from the time of waking from it, took place at 
the same hour of the same night. 

Adele A. Gleason. 

Dr. Gleason was so impressed by the dream that 
on the following morning she made an entry in her 
diary : ** Night of dream. J. R. J." (Mr. Joslyn's 
initials.) The diary was sent to Dr. Hodgson for 
his inspection. 

The account of the second dreamer, written a 
few days later, is as follows : 

From Mr, John R. Joslyn^ Attorney -at- Law 

208 East Water Street, Elmira, N. Y. 

On Tuesday, January 26, 1892, I dreamed that in a lonely 
wood where sometimes I hunted game and was walking along 
after dark, I found a friend standing some ten feet in the 
bushes away from the road, apparently paralysed with fear of 
something invisible to me, and almost completely stupefied by 
the sense of danger. I went to the side of my friend and 
shook the bush, when the falling leaves turned into flame. 

On meeting this friend, a lady, some days afterwards, she 
mentioned having had a vivid dream on Tuesday morning, 

^ Journal^ S. P. R., June, 1895, p. 105. 
6 



82 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

and I said " Let me tell yon mine first," and without sugges- 
tion I related the duplicate of her dream. 

I was awakened soon after, and noted the time from a cer- 
tain night train on a railroad near by, and so am certain that 
the dreams took place at same hour of same night. 

J. R. JOSLYN. 

It would seem here that a kind of nightmare 
experience of the one dreamer was by sympathy 
transferred to the other. 

The next example, again, bears some resem- 
blance to our experimental cases, but in the present 
instance the distance between agent and percipient 
— if we adopt the telepathic explanation — was some 
five hundred miles. 

No. 22. From Mrs. Krekel' 

[Mrs. Krekel, an associate of the American Branch of the 
S. P. R., was in November, 1893, staying with an old friend, 
Mrs. McKenzie. On the early morning of the 23rd November 
she heard a loud rap upon the headboard of the bed ; and after 
relapsing again into a condition of half-sleep, saw a large en- 
velope, with a mourning border, thrust before her face. She 
related her experience to her friend in the morning. The 
following day she left her friend's house; and on the next day 
— Saturday the 25th — received a telegram announcing her 
mother's death. 

The following letter was written by Mrs. Krekel to her 
hostess a week after the visionary experience.] 

RoCKPORT, III., November 30, 1893. 

Dear Mrs. McKenzie, — The enclosed telegram, which I 

would like you to return again to me, will explain the sad 

errand upon which I was called to Rockport, only two days 

after my somewhat remarkable experience at your place. 

^Journal, S. P. R., June, 1895. 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 83 

You will remember that it was Wednesday night, November 
22nd, that I heard the loud rap upon head of my bed, and 
had the arm thrust over my shoulder, handing me the envelope 
with mourning border and death upon it. Saturday morning, 
at Hamburg, Iowa, three days afterwards, the enclosed mes- 
sage came to me. Now I must tell you some other particulars 
connected with it, which are part, and a remarkable part, of 
the occurrence and experience. 

My mother was taken ill Wednesday night, soon after going 
to bed, — a difficulty in breathing, which she had experienced 
more or less since an attack of " la grippe " four years ago. 
She occupied and slept in her own part of the house, shut 
away from my brother and sister-in-law by two doors, — the 
folding doors of the parlour which was her living room 
and her bedroom door opening off her living room. She 
told my sister Mary, who was sent for the next morning 
and stayed with her until she died, that she disliked to disturb 
the family, knowing that they were ill (both brother and his 
wife were down with ** grippe"), and she resolved to go 
through the night without calling them ; but along towards 
morning became so ill that she tried to call them, rapped upon 
a stand standing at the head of bed^ and upon the headboard^ until 
she aroused them. 

Now, that I heard my dear old mother rapping for help 
across three states^ I have no more doubt than I have that I am 
writing to you of the occurrence now. 

My sister tells me that she was likely struck with death 
from the first. Her hands and feet were deathly cold, but she 
did not know it, said she was comfortable, **that she was 
going,'* and was glad, " was happy." 

Mattie p. Krekel. 

The telegram is dated November 25, 1893, and 
announces that the death had occurred at four 
o'clock that morning. November 22nd, 1893, was 
a Wednesday, as stated. 



84 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

The following was Mrs. McKenzie's reply to 
Mrs. Krekel : 

Quitman, Mo., December 6, 1893. 
I opened your letter in the presence of my husband, 
son, and daughter. I read the telegram first. My surpiise 
caused me to relate the occurrence of Wednesday night, No- 
vember 22nd, as you had told me in the morning. Lottie 
told her father that you told her the same thing after break- 
fast. Then I read your letter, and there was the same. A 
loud rap upon the head of your bed, waking you up, an arm 
thrust over your shoulder, handing you an envelope with a 
black border, with death upon it. I cannot forget your 
excitement and sadness, caused by the occurrence. 

Ellen E. McKenzie. 

Mrs. Krekel, it should be added, explains that 
she was In no anxiety about her mother at the time : 
" As far as I knew, my mother was In better health 
than a year before." She added that the distance 
between her mother and herself at the time of the 
vision was five hundred miles. 

In the next case the coincidence was of a much 
more striking character, and the dream, again, was 
sufficiently vivid to awaken the dreamer. 

No. 23. 

Mr. H. B., an undergraduate of College, 

Cambridge, wrote on the 6th October, 1901, to 
Mr. Piddington : 

... I thought you might possibly be interested in a coinci- 
dence which took place at the end of August last. I am attached 
to a certain young lady. At the time I refer to I was staying 
near Peterboro' and the lady in question was at her home, a 
seaside town in Yorkshire. One very close thundery night I 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 85 

found some difficulty in getting to sleep. When finally I fell 
asleep, or rather dozed, the face of Miss D. rose up before me, 
and to my surprise one side of her face was very much swol- 
len and she looked very unhappy. I sat up in bed and spoke 
to her, only to find that I had been dreaming. Again I fell 
asleep and dreamt that I was walking along a street, when I 
heard a cry above me, and looking up saw Miss D.'s face at a 
window from which smoke and flames were issuing. I rushed 
upstairs, only to see her face floating in the smoke, very much 
swollen. I tried to grasp her, and woke up with a cry. Some- 
how the dream depressed me, and next day in writing to Miss 
D. I told her the whole thing, much as I have told you. Im- 
agine my surprise a day after, when I heard from her that on 
the night in question she had gone out to see a house on fire — 
Mrs. K.'s seaside residence ; had contracted a chill, and gone 
to bed with her face enormously swollen up, and had suffered 
severe toothache all night. Our letters on the subject will 
confirm dates, etc. ... H. B. 

A few days later Mr. H. B. called on Mrs. Ver- 
rall, who ascertained that the dream occurred on 
the night of Sunday, August 25th. On the follow- 
ing day Mr. H. B., to quote from Mrs. Verrall's 
notes of her interview with him, 

wrote to Miss D. to ask if she had had a toothache, but on 
second thoughts decided that it would make him feel foolish 
if nothing had occurred, and so tore up the letter. On a later 
day in the week he was writing to her about other things, and 
then mentioned his vivid dream about the swollen face (this 
part of the business evidently impressed him much more than 
the fire). But before he sent this letter he received one from 
her mentioning that she had been suffering from a severe 
toothache and swollen face since Sunday night. This letter I 
have seen ; it is dated from Filey, on ** Wednesday " (obvi- 
ously August 28th), and begms by saying that she is sorry not 
to have written before, but has been " seedy ever since 



86 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

Sunday. I think I must have got a chill; anyhow, I had raging 
toothache from Sunday night till " the day before, when she 
had the tooth out with gas. The letter went on to give a 
graphic description, with a sketch, of her appearance during 
the time that her face was swollen. 

On the receipt of this letter, H. B. was so much astonished to 
find that his dream about the swollen face was true that he added 
a postscript to his letter (which had not yet gone) to say that 
he had seen her with a swollen face at a window from which 
smoke was coming, and to ask if that part of the dream was 
also true. 

Her letter in answer to that I have also seen. It is dated 
from Filey on August 31, 1901, and I copy the important 
part : — '* I was awfully interested in your dream ; it is the 
queerest thing I have heard of for ages. The funny part of it 
is that I got the cold which made my toothache so bad by 
going out on Sunday evening, hearing that there was a fire on 
the Crescent. It was Mrs, K.'s house ; one of the bedrooms 
got on fire. It was nothing much, and was put out before the 
Fire Brigade arrived. . . . Auntie M. first noticed smoke 
coming out of the window." The writer goes on to say (and 
this seems to me very interesting), *'M. gave me a sleeping 
powder on Sunday night, so I slept heavily, in spite of the 
pain." She also says that she thought about him a good deal 
on Monday night when she had seen what a sight she was, but 
not on Sunday.* 

The case is Interesting, not only from the de- 
tailed nature of the coincidence, but because it 
illustrates one of the chief obstacles to obtaining 
good evidence in cases of this kind. The letter 

* Journal, S. P. R., July, 1902, p. 263. A case very similar to Mr. H. 
B.'s will be found in my Apparitions and Thought Transference (p. 200). 
The percipient in that case, Sir Edward Hamilton, K.C.B., had a vision of 
his brother with his arm seriously afTected, horribly red, and bent back at 
the wrist. The date of the dream is attested by a note in the percipient's 
diary. 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 87 

which Mr. H. B. had actually written on the Mon- 
day was not sent, through fear of ridicule. Some- 
times it is a feeling of quite a different order which 
stands in the way of a written note being made. 
Thus, Miss G. had a dream of her brother dying 
in his berth on board ship. Miss G. was so con- 
vinced that her brother was dead (in fact he died 
about twelve hours later), that she ceased to send 
her usual letters to him ; but, in place of making a 
written note of an experience which she felt too 
sacred for the purpose, she kept an invitation card 
to a children's party to remind her of the exact 
date.^ In another case, in which a child of fourteen 
saw the apparition of a young man of about nine- 
teen on the day of his death, the percipient told no 
one of her experience, save her sister who was 
present at the time; and adds, ** Although I wished 
to put it down in my diary (which I had not kept 
for some time), I was afraid to do so ; I therefore 
made marks to remind myself."^ 

In the last case, it will be observed, the vision 
was a waking hallucination, a much more impres- 
sive experience than a dream, and one much more 
likely therefore to be recorded. But we have some 
statistics to show that even hallucinations are very 
rarely recorded beforehand. Out of sixty-two hal- 
lucinations coincident with a death, obtained through 
the Census enquiry, a written note is said to have 

* Journal, S. P. R., December, 1894. 

' I have seen the " mark " in the diary — a simple triangle with no com- 
ment of any kind. 



SS Spontaneous Thought Transference 

been made before news of the death in six cases 
only. In only one — the narrative just cited — has 
the note actually been preserved, and this, as has 
been shown, in an ambiguous form. There are 
altogether 1942 hallucinations reported in the Cen- 
sus enquiry, and in only forty-nine of these, z\ e., 
2.5 per cent., is any record (diary or letter) said to 
have been written within twenty-four hours of the 
occurrence. 1 We can hardly expect therefore that 
a note of a dream will be made at the time, unless 
the percipient should happen to be specially in- 
terested in the subject. 

In the following case also the correspondence 
between the dream and the event appears to have 
been very detailed ; though in one important par- 
ticular, the identity of the person in the water, the 
dreamer was at fault. 

No. 24. From Miss C. Clarkson ' 

Alverthorpe Hall, Wakefield 

May 8th, 1S94. 

On Sunday, May 5th, 1894,' my sister and I were boating 
on the river Derwent, in Yorkshire (near Kirkham Abbey), 
with a party of friends in a small steam launch. Between 3 
and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we had all landed to gather 
cowslips in the fields, and on returning to the boat, for some 
reason the usual plank for landing was not in position, and we 
jumped in turn from the bank on to the flat end of the boat. 
I was tlie last, and in jumping missed my footing and slipped 

* Proceedings, S. P. R., voi. x., pp. 211 and 220. Of course only a small 
proportion of the 194.2 hallucinations showed any correspondence with a 
death or other event. 

'' Journal, S. P. R., July, 1 895. 

* The first Sunday in May, 1894, was really the 6tlu 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 89 

into the water, catching the edge of the boat, however, with 
my hands as I went, and supporting myself — so that I was not 
totally immersed, though the water was a good depth where 
we were. Two of the gentlemen rushed forward and pulled 
me out by my arms. I said as I was being hauled up, " It is 
no use pulling so hard, you hurt me." One of them said, 
" We must pull, if we are to get you out." I was got on to 
the boat in a very short time, and was never in any danger. 

We returned to our own home the next day, and never 
mentioned in the slightest way the little accident to any one, 
lest my father, who is a very old man, should be alarmed or 
worried at what had happened. Shortly after we returned, 
my step-mother said to my sister^ " Have you had an accident 
on the river?" "I? No," said my sister. [Mrs. Clarkson 
then related her dream.] 

According to my step-mother's account, my father also 
seemed to have been a little anxious and uneasy in his sleep 
that night, and in the morning rather pointedly asked her 
if she had dreamt anything, but said nothing further; and 
nothing was afterwards said to him to make him aware of 
what had happened. My step-mother's dream was during the 
night after the accident occurred. 

Christabel Clarkson. 

Miss Clarkson adds : • 

I have asked Mrs. Clarkson if she ever had any other 
dreams of the kind, but she says not. 

The following is Mrs. Clarkson's account of her 
dream : 

May 14th, 1894. 
On Sunday night. May 6th, 1894, [I had] a dream which 
appeared remarkable ; in effect, was this — that Louisa Clark- 
son was in the water apparently drowned, and I said, " Take 
care, or you will go," and pulled her in by her hair. Her 
answer was, " Do not pull so hard, you hurt me." I still 
pulled, saying, " You had better be hurt than drowned." The 



90 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

following day, on her return home, I inquired of her if she 
had an accident during her visit. She said, " Well, something 
like one ; my sister got into the water and used just the same 
words, 'Don't pull so hard, you hurt me.'" Her answer 
to me was, " Well, it is strange." 

Annie Pilkington Clarkson. 
P. S. — I inquired of Louisa before hearing a word of the 
accident. 

Miss Louisa Clarkson also gives her confirmation 
of the incident. Here, it will be seen, the dream 
occurred some hours after the accident. It may 
be suggested that it was caused by Miss Clarkson 
or her sister recalling the scene at night. Or, 
again, the impression may have been conveyed 
to Mrs. Clarkson at the actual time of the ac- 
cident, but have remained latent until a favour- 
able opportunity came for its emergence into 
consciousness.^ 

A dream related to us by Mr. G. R. Sims fur- 
nishes a parallel for the mistake in the identity of 
the chief actor in the dream-drama. Mr. Sims 
dreamt that his sister came to tell him of his 
father's death. In the morning, after he had 
awakened from the dream. Miss Sims actually 
came, but the death which she announced was 
that of his brother-in-law.^ 

A very large number of coincident dreams, as 
might have been anticipated on the telepathic 
theory, are connected with death. The following 
may be cited as a typical case. 

' See below, Case 41, Chapter VI. 
« Journal, S. P. R., October, 1899. 



spontaneous Thought Transference 91 

No. 25. From Mrs. Mann * 

King's Field, Cambridge, nth Feb., 1904. 

On the night of Friday, January 22nd, 1904, I had a vivid 
dream. 

I saw my old friend, Dr. X., who left Cambridge about ten 
years ago, and I had not seen him since, sitting by my side. 
He took hold of my hand, saying, "Why have you not been 
to see me ? " I said, '* Oh! I Ve been so busy that I 've not 
been able to get away. You are so altered since I saw you 
last." " Yes," he said, " but that is so long ago." He then 
disappeared. The dream so impressed me that I told it to 
my husband at breakfast the next morning, Saturday, 23rd, 
and also to a friend who knew the doctor, on the 25th. 

On Saturday morning, the 30th, my husband at breakfast 
said he had received a memorial notice of Dr. X.'s death, 
which took place on the 23rd instant, the day after my dream. 

S. Mann. 
A. H. Mann. 

Dr. Mann appends his signature to the account 
in corroboration. Mrs. Mann explained to Mrs. 
H. Sidgwick that Dr. X.'s hair and whiskers when 
she last saw him were iron grey, but that in her 
dream they appeared white. From Dr. X.'s son 
we learn that his whiskers were not quite white 
and his hair only tinged with white. In any case 
little weight could be attached to a correspondence 
of this kind. 

Dr. X. died at 4.30 a.m. on the 23rd January, 
1904, so that it is possible that the dream exactly 
coincided with the hour of the death. 

The exact date of the dream is fixed by a note 

^Journal, S. P. R., June, 1905. 



92 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

in Dr. Mann's diary, *' Jan. 23rd, X [full surname 
given] dream." 

A narrative is quoted in the Journal for Decem- 
ber, 1895 (p. 178), in which the occurrence of a 
dream presaging a death was noted in a diary 
before the news was received. In another case, 
printed in the Journal for November, 1897, a letter 
relating the dream was sent to Dr. Hodgson before 
news of the event was received. 

We have several cases reported to us of dreams 
coincident with external events in which it is diffi- 
cult to apply the theory of thought transference, 
since no person is indicated as the probable agent. 
Thus we have two or three cases in which a robbery 
has been seen in a dream, in which the only con- 
ceivable agent would appear to be the malefactor, 
presumably unknown to the dreamer, and certainly 
a reluctant party to the experiment.^ 

In other cases the death intimated in the dream 
is that of some eminent personage — President, 
Duke, or professional cricketer. In view of the in- 
calculable scope offered by dreams for chance co- 
incidence, and the danger, when the experience has 
not been actually written down at once, that the 
amount of correspondence with the event may be 

* A very striking example of this class is the " prophetic" dream of the 
murder of Terriss, the actor. I have dealt with it under the head of 
prophecy, because the dream did actually precede the murder by some 
hours. But the least incredible explanation which I can suggest for the 
dream — which on any interpretation presents us with a difficult problem — 
is that the percipient's experience was inspired by the brooding thoughts of 
the actual murderer, a discharged super, personally unknown to him. See 
below, Chapter XIV., No. 7O. 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 93 

unduly magnified, it would not be wise to attach 
much importance to coincident dreams of this char- 
acter. But the reader may be interested in seeing 
a specimen case. 

An account of the incident described was sent to 
Mr. Andrew Lang on the 4th December, 1901, by 
Mr. Alexander Bell of the Sheffield Daily Tele- 
graph, On the nth Mr. Bell wrote again, enclos- 
ing an account from Mr. Brierley, the dreamer : 

No. 26. From Mr. J. A. Brierley ^ 

Mr. Bell kindly tells me that you are much interested in my 
dream concerning the death of Lohmann, and for what it may 
be worth I have pleasure in briefly relating what happened. 

Shortly before seven o'clock on the morning of December 
2nd I awoke, but, not being under the necessity of rising 
early, I went off to sleep again, and it was during this period 
that I dreamt Lohmann had died — I had no impression where, 
although I knew he was in South Africa — and I had to write 
a sketch of his career. I saw him playing again, and he was 
focussed very clearly before me in the act of delivering the 
ball. This, with a memory of the first match in which I ever 
saw him, — the second match between the sixth Australian 
team and Shaw and Shrewsbury's Eleven that had been in the 
Antipodes the previous year, played at Old Trafford on Sep- 
tember 13, 14, and 15, 1888, when he and Briggs dismissed the 
whole side for 35, — left a very vivid impression upon me when 
I awakened, and although I attached no significance to the 
dream, remembering the nature of my work, I mentioned the 
incident to my wife when I got down. At that time, of course, 
news of Lohmann's death was in the papers, but as I had left 
the office the previous evening by half-past nine, at which hour 
the cable message had not come through, I was in ignorance 
of it. Curiously enough, I did not see a paper that morning 

« Journal^ S. P. R., May, 1902. 



94 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

until I reached the office, and the first words that were ad- 
dressed to me were, " Do you know George Lohmann is 
dead ? " 

I had not sought to trace any meaning to it, looking upon 
it merely as a remarkable coincidence, but, as was pointed out 
by one of my colleagues to whom I mentioned what had oc- 
curred, the strange part of the matter is that since he left 
England after the tour of the South Africans in this country, 
nothing had appeared to in any way revive memories of him 
at such a time. J. A. Brierley. 

Through the kindness of Mr. Bell, we obtained 
later the following corroboration from Mrs. Brier- 
ley ; this was enclosed in a letter dated December 
23rd, 1901 : 

All that I can say with regard to Mr. Brierley's account of 
his dream is that, just before sitting down to breakfast on the 
morning he mentions, he alluded to the fact that he had had a 
singular fancy in his sleep — that he had dreamt Lohmann, the 
cricketer, was dead, that he had to write an obituary notice of 
him, and other things which he has detailed in his own com- 
munication. That he did so relate this to me at that time, 
I have the clearest recollection. 

(Signed) Louie Brierley. 

The telegram announcing Lohmann's death, as 
we learn from Mr. Bell, did not reach the office of 
the Telegraph until after midnight on Sunday, ist 
December. 

Here, whatever significance we may attach to 
the coincidence, it is at least worth noting that the 
dream made a sufficient impression to induce the 
percipient to relate it the next morning. 

In the narratives hitherto cited the coincidence 
has been of a perfectly definite character, and the 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 95 

dream has, with the doubtful exception of case No. 
22, been referred at the time to the presumed 
agent. Before leaving the subject, however, men- 
tion should perhaps be made of the class of sym- 
bolic dreams — a survival of the occult art of the 
interpretation of dreams. Many cases have been 
reported to us in which dreams of a particular type 
are apt to recur with certain persons, indicating, 
either by way of coincidence or forewarning, the 
occurrence of a death in their immediate circle. It 
is difficult for us in such cases to share our inform- 
ant's confidence that a dream of this kind is causally 
connected with the death, partly because the dream 
as a rule is not referred at the time to any particular 
person, and the scope for coincidence is thus very 
wide ; but mainly because it is rarely possible, even 
with the most scrupulous narrator, to feel satisfied 
that all the ** misses " have been recorded as well 
as the **hits." In the following case, however, 
though the dream did not actually suggest at the 
time the death of Mrs. Medley, it called up the 
thought of her. The dream, it will be seen, was 
preceded by a series of waking impressions. It 
should be added that dreams of these offensive 
parasites, or of teeth falling out, are amongst the 
commonest types of symbolic death-dreams. 

No. 27. From Mrs. Knight 

Heathlands, Malvern Wells, 20th April, 1897 * 

I was staying at Udny Castle, in Aberdeenshire, on a visit, 

* Journaly S. P. R., October, i8g7. The account was actually written 
down, as stated at the end of the letter, a few days after the occurrence. 



96 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

and was going on for another visit to Lytham, in Lancashire, 
on the i8th of September, 1895. I had wished Mr. and Mrs. 
Udny and the friends in the house good-bye when I went to 
bed, knowing I should have to make a very early start in the 
morning. So I had the curtains drawn and the shutters shut 
to make the room dark and to get a good night's sleep. 

But I woke up with the feeling of being gently wakened ; I 
was swayed, or rather rocked backwards and forwards, till I 
felt the bed to see if that were moving, and then I was gently 
and quietly raised up. The air fluttered over my head, a 
shimmering light came, and I felt some one was detained, 
lingering and hovering over me. To myself, I said : ** Some 
one is dying ; some one I know is leaving this world and 
blessing me " ; and then the hovering and the fluttering were 
greater. Then, aloud, as if some one were willing me (for I 
never speak aloud to myself), I said : " If dear Med were here 
she would tell me at once who it is." As if in answer came 
a rap by the head of my bed, a rap I have never heard before, 
and was certainly not made by human hands. I jumped out 
of bed, and said, "Who am I to see?" I lit my candle, and 
looked at my watch, and it was seven minutes past three. I 
put the candle out, and was getting into bed, when I thought, 
" How can I rest while a soul I know is passing from this 
world ? " and I knelt down and said a prayer for the soul. I 
never thought it was my dear nurse, Mrs. Medley, whom I 
always called " Med," but I thought of a friend I knew in 
Warwickshire. 

After I got into bed and put the candle out, there was a 
light I cannot describe all round my bed. It was a silvery 
radiance, and as it passed away flashes of gold and gold stars 
fell. About five I went to sleep for half an hour, but woke up 
with my hand on my neck trying to take off a flat black in- 
sect. . . . One seemed on my forehead, one on my neck, 
and I said again aloud : " This is dear Med's Death Dream ; 
how interested she will be to hear it. IV/io could have died 
this morning?" Mrs. Medley had always told me that 
dreaming of insects on the head and neck was a certain sign 



Spontaneous Thought Transference 97 

of death, and I never liked her saying this, but never 
believed it. 

I was travelling from 6.30 that morning, and arrived at 
Lytham about 8 p.m., when I was met at the station by my 
friend, with a telegram in her hand, saying, " My dear, I have 
very sad news for you." And I answered, '* Then it was dear 
Med." And she said, " Oh, I am so glad you were prepared. 
We feared from the telegram it would be such an awful shock 
to you." I answered, " I was not prepared, only I know it 
all now." 

I took the first train in the next morning to Malvern Wells, 
where we were living, and at that station was met and told my 
dear nurse had died at three. I said, *' No, it was later." On 
arriving at the house my sister said she had looked at the 
watch, and the hands were between five and ten minutes past 
three. It was seven minutes past three when I looked at my 
watch on that morning. 

The day before she had been very well, and my sisters had 
taken her for a drive round Upton-on-Severn, but she was 
constantly talking of me, and saying, " I am not happy about 
Etta. She is not well ; I want to see her." 

I had not said in any letters that I was not well, but I had 
not been very well. 

She was the dearest and truest friend I have ever had, or 
ever can have. She was my sisters' and my nurse, and had 
been in my father's service before I was born. . . . 

Henrietta Knight. 

In a letter to Mr. Myers, enclosing the account, 
Mrs. Knight writes: 

Heathlands, Malvern Wells, April 20th [1897]. 
. . . I was so afraid of imagining or forgetting, that the 
day I arrived home I wrote the bare facts, which I have copied 
for you. I have simply copied down what I wrote. 

Mrs. Knight adds that she had no knowledge of 



98 Spontaneous Thought Transference 

Mrs. Medley's illness : and that ^* the love between 
her and me was greater than the love between 
many a mother and child." 

It will be seen that the idea of death had been 
already summoned up by the previous waking ex- 
perience, and that the dream simply embodied the 
same idea in the traditional symbolic imagery — a 
tradition closely associated in the dreamer's mind 
with the idea of the dying woman. 



CHAPTER V 

ON HALLUCINATIONS IN GENERAL 

NT ONE of the obscure phenomena dealt with by 
^ ^ the Society for Psychical Research have ex- 
cited more attention, and been more widely misin- 
terpreted, than the apparitions of the dying which 
form the subject-matter of the next chapter. Such 
apparitions are reported to have occurred far back 
in the world's annals. Some historical instances 
will no doubt occur to the reader. The memory of 
a mental attitude now outgrown is apt to be short- 
lived, and it is perhaps not superfluous to point out 
that until some twenty or thirty years ago, say, 
there were only two explanations of such occur- 
rences commonly recognised. By the majority of 
the educated classes they were dismissed as mere 
inventions of the popular imagination, like the tales 
of elves, nymphs, fauns, hobgoblins, and the whole 
tribe of fairyland. In the belief of the people they 
were held to be what they seemed, the authentic ap- 
pearances of the dead — certissimce mortis imagines. 
Even now the endorsement of these dubious shapes 
by the Society for Psychical Research has done 
more, probably, than anything else to prejudice our 
investigations. Those who have themselves dis- 
carded the heritage of a primeval animism can 

99 



loo On Hallucinations in General 

hardly bring themselves to credit that we also are 
to that extent emancipated ; and the implicit assump- 
tion that we regard such appearances as in some 
sense a part of the dying man, a double, an astral 
body, a visible soul, still prevails in some quarters. 

Let it be understood, then, that in this and the 
following chapter the apparitions or ** ghosts" of 
which instances will be cited are regarded primarily 
as hallucinations. A hallucination is a sensory per- 
ception which corresponds to no sensory reality ^; it 
is a creation of the brain ; in the case of a visual hal- 
lucination we may describe it as the final member in 
a series of which intermediate terms can be traced in 
the half realised pictures that flit before our waking 
thought in every act of memory ; the imagery which 
fills our consciousness in dreams ; and the mind's eye 
visions so frequently seen by artists and others with 
a vivid imagination, of which some telepathic exam- 
ples have been cited in Chapter III. A hallucination 
may be roughly described as a waking dream ; and it 
is for our purpose more interesting and more signifi- 
cant than a dream only because it is a much rarer phe- 
nomenon, and because the circumstance that it takes 
a place amongst the imagery of the external world 
seen by the waking eyes makes it likely to be more 
certainly remembered and more accurately recorded. 

But to most persons the word "hallucination" 
still carries with it some implication of disease. 

' More accurately, to adopt Edmund Gurney's definition, a hallucination 
is " a percept which lacks, but can only by distinct reflection be recognised 
as lacking, the objective basis which it suggests." 



On Hallucinations in General loi 

The man in the street when he hears the word 
probably thinks of Huxley's Mrs. A., and of 
Goethe's butt, Nicolal, the Berlin bookseller: and 
in both these cases the hallucinations were symp- 
toms of maladies for which the sufferers were under 
medical treatment. It is only within the last gen- 
eration that even medical men have come to recog- 
nise that hallucinations may occur amongst sane and 
healthy people; that they are indeed of much more 
frequent occurrence, say, than smallpox or typhoid 
fever, and that they may imply no greater functional 
disturbance than a toothache or a cold. For within 
the last generation our knowledge of the subject 
has been increased by two methods. In the first 
place an increasing familiarity with hypnotism has 
enabled us to reproduce hallucinations at will. A 
subject in the somnambulic stage of the hypnotic 
sleep will not merely see and hear what he is bidden 
to see or hear at the time; but will also, in obedience 
to the experimenter's suggestion, summon up like 
unsubstantial visions after the trance has terminated. 
I have seen a lady, some time after being aw^akened, 
gratefully accept a blank card as a photograph of a 
friend : I have myself persuaded an educated man, 
in full possession apparently of his normal senses, 
to mistake blue for green and yellow for pink. That 
hallucinations thus imposed are really seen there can 
be little doubt; they are even amenable in some 
cases to the usual optical tests, and can be magni- 
fied by a lens, or reflected in a mirror, or give rise 
to after-images. With a good subject there Is 



I02 On Hallucinations in General 

apparently no limit to this power to perceive sug- 
gested hallucinations. Edmund Gurney, following 
the example of some Continental hypnotists, caused 
by this means a lifelike apparition of himself to 
appear to an astonished servant girl.^ 

But the spontaneous hallucinations of normal 
healthy persons are more pertinent to our present 
enquiry than these post-somnambulic visions. The 
late Professor Sidgwick, at the instance of the 
Congress of Experimental Psychology which met 
in Paris in 1889, with the aid of a committee of 
members of the Society for Psychical Research, in- 
stituted a census of spontaneous hallucinations of 
the sane. In the course of three or four years 
17,000 persons, the greater part resident in the 
United Kingdom, were questioned on the subject.^ 
The results showed that 655 out of 8372 men, and 
1029 out of 8628 women, or 9.9 per cent, of the 

' Proceedings, S. P. R. , vol. v. , pp. 1 1-13. The girl had no recollection in the 
waking state of the suggestion given in the trance, and was much astonished 
and a little frightened at the apparition which came down the kitchen stairs. 
She went at once to tell her mistress. 

^ The question was worded as follows : " Have you ever, when believing 
yourself to be completely awake, had a vivid impression of seeing, or being 
touched by, a living being or inanimate object, or of hearing a voice ; which 
impression, so far as you could discover, was not due to any external physi- 
cal cause?" 

It should be added that the greatest care was taken to ensure the accuracy 
and representative character of the answers. The collectors, who all gave 
their services gratuitously, numbered 410 : they included, besides members 
of the Society for Psychical Research, many medical men, trained psycho- 
logists, teachers, and others. Nine tenths of them were educated up to the 
standard of the professional classes, and all were carefully instructed in their 
duties. Answers were obtained on schedules printed for the purpose in 
batches of 25, and it was a special instruction that no selection of answers 
should be made, but that all answers, whether Yes or Noy should be regarded 



On Hallucinations in General 103 

whole number, had experienced a sensory halluci- 
nation at some time in their lives ; many more than 
once. Of the whole number of hallucinations about 
two thirds affected the sense of sight, the remainder 
being concerned with hearing and touch. It is the 
visual hallucinations, however, which most concern 
us, and the following table gives an analysis of the 
things represented in the 1112^ visions, the con- 
ditions under which they were seen, and the period 
in which they are recorded as having been seen. 

as of equal importance. The work was of necessity somewhat tedious, and 
the whole enquiry, as said, extended over about four years. But the results 
are believed to be as nearly accurate as any extensive enquiry of the kind 
could furnish. That apart from the influence of forgetfulness, discussed 
in the text, the results were not entirely accurate is indicated by the fact that 
the census papers handed in by members of the Society for Psychical Re- 
search committee and by medical men and psychologists showed a distinctly 
higher proportion of affirmative answers, viz. : 9^ from men, and 17.1^ from 
women, or 12.8 for both sexes. This probably indicates that the expert 
questioner gave rather more time to the enquiry, and exacted from the per- 
sons questioned a more searching interrogation of their memory. As a con- 
trast with the method pursued by our committee, it may be mentioned that 
the French astronomer, M. Flammarion, inserted a similar question in sev- 
eral Parisian papers, asking readers in the event of their having had no such 
impressions, to reply to him on a post-card. In the event he received 2456 
negative and 1824 affirmative answers; of the latter over 90^ were coinci- 
dental. On the figures so obtained M. Flammarion thinks himself justified 
in arguing as follows : 

" If these things were hallucinations, illusions, freaks of the imagination, 
the number of those not coinciding with a death would be considerably 
greater than the number which do so coincide. Now we find the contrary 
has been the case. My enquiry proves it to demonstration. I asked my 
readers to be good enough to send me all cases, whether coincidental or not. 
[Of the cases sent] there were not more than seven or eight per cent, of ap- 
paritions without coincidences. Precisely the reverse ought to have been 
the case if we were dealing with hallucinations " {Llnconnii, et les problhjies 
psychiques, p. 222). 

^ About 300 cases in which the details of the experience were given only 
at second-hand are excluded from this total. 



I04 On Hallucinations in General 



Visual Hallucinations' 



a, 
a. 
< 



Of 

Living 
Persons 



' Immediately after wak- 
ing 

Awake in bed 

Up 

Out of doors 

Unstated 



Totals. 



Of 
Dead 
Persons 



Immediately after wak- 
ing 

Awake in bed 

Up 

Out of doors 

^ Unstated 



Totals. 



Unrecog- 
nised 



Immediately after wak- 
ing 

Awake in bed 

Up 

Out of doors 

>^ Unstated 



Totals. 



Incompletely 
Developed 
Apparitions 



Immediately after wak- 
ing 

Awake in bed 

Up 

Out of doors 

, Unstated 



Totals. 



All other 

Visual 

Hallucinations 



Immediately after wak- 
ing 

Awake in bed 

Up 

Out of doors 

Unstated 



Totals 



Within 
the last 
lo years 



i6 

31 

78 

31 

I 



157 



19 
26 

9 

3 



62 



18 

31 

47 
30 

126 



60 



55 



Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. x.. p. 45- 



More 

than 10 

years 

ago 



24 

43 

64 

31 

4 



166 



25 

42 

10 

5 



85 



54 
42 

33 



140 



29 
20 
12 



74 



64 



Un- 
dated 



29 



16 



5 
22 

4 
10 



49 



4 
20 



Totals 



43 

77 

149 

70 

13 



352 



46 
74 
19 
16 



163 



36 

90 

III 

67 

II 



315 



24 

50 

47 

19 

3 



[43 



18 

31 

57 

26 

7 

f39 



On Hallucinations in General 105 

It will be seen that three quarters of the visual 
hallucinations represented a lifelike human figure, 
in the majority of cases known to the percipient. 
It will further be noted that, in view of the com- 
paratively short period of our waking hours spent 
in bed, a disproportionately large number of the 
hallucinations occurred under such conditions — a 
fact due no doubt largely to the quiescence and 
freedom from disturbance obtaining. 

Apart from their interest for psychologists gen- 
erally as representing an incursion into a field hith- 
erto practically unexplored — the hallucinations of 
sane and healthy persons ^ — the results of the cen- 
sus have an important bearing upon the evidence 
for the telepathic hypothesis. As already pointed 
out, in most experiments at close quarters we can 
calculate with some approach to exactness the prob- 
abilities against the results coinciding by chance ; 

^ The question "Were you in good healtli?" was asked of all those who 
replied " Yes " to the census enquiry. It appears that of the hallucinations 
included in the census ill-health was present in 123 cases, or between 7 
and 8 per cent. But the ill-health was in most cases of a quite minor char- 
acter — "nervous and dyspeptic" or "a little below par" being typical 
descriptions. The hallucinations dealt with are, therefore, not due in the 
majority of cases to ill-health. Nor are they due, in most cases, to emo- 
tional disturbances: grief, anxiety, depression, etc., are recorded as being 
present in only 220 cases out of the 1622 — or between 13 and 14 per cent. 

It should be added that these hallucinations of the sane present marked 
differences from the hallucinations observed to be associated with disease or 
insanity. The census hallucinations are mostly isolated and trivial ex- 
periences ; they carry with them, as a rule, no feeling of teiTor or disgust ; 
and in their realistic appearance and other details they differ markedly from 
hallucinations associated with, e, g. visceral diseases. (See the Goulstonian 
Lectures for 1901, by Henry Head, M. D., and Mr. Piddington's review, 
Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. xix., p. 267.) 



io6 On Hallucinations in General 

our difficulty in such cases is to eliminate the pos- 
sible operation of hypersesthesia, etc. But when, 
as in case No. 33, Prince Duleep Singh sees the 
vision of his father who is dying hundreds of miles 
away, we know that no intimation or anticipation 
of the death can have reached him by normal means. 
But we are not therefore entitled to assume a 
causal connection between the hallucination and 
the death. Though not so common as dreams, 
hallucinations, it may be objected, are of sufficiently 
frequent occurrence to render a chance coincidence 
not impossible. To justify the inference that the 
Prince's vision, and the other similar visions pre- 
served in our records, really point to a causal con- 
nection with the death of the person represented, 
we must be able to show that coincidences of this 
kind are more numerous than the frequency of non- 
coincident hallucinations would account for. The 
census gives us the material for the calculation 
required. But the figures cannot, it must be pre- 
mised, be taken at their face value. If we turn 
again to the table quoted on page 104 we shall 
note, as a significant fact, that the hallucinations 
recorded as occurring during the previous ten years 
approach pretty nearly to the sum of all the rest. 
Further, on a closer analysis of the records the 
committee found that the most recent year was 
more prolific than the rest of the decade ; the most 
recent quarter again was more prolific than the 
other quarters ; the most recent month more pro- 
lific than the rest of the quarter. It is clear that 



On Hallucinations in General 107 

forgetfulness has seriously vitiated the results. 
After a careful estimate of all the circumstances 
the committee came to the conclusion that to 
arrive at the actual number of hallucinations ex- 
perienced by the persons questioned, the numbers 
given should be multiplied by at least 4, and pos- 
sibly more.^ 

If we include only recognised and realistic ap- 
paritions of the human figure, and subtract all 
doubtful cases, all cases occurring before the age 
of ten, and all cases where the percipient had more 
than one similar experience, we find that we have 
322 cases to deal with. Multiplied by 4, these 
amount to 1288, or in round numbers 1300. But 
of the 322 we find 62 '^ coincided with a death — i, e., 
occurred within twelve hours, on one side or the 
other, of the death of the person represented. 
Now of the 62 death coincidences, 1 1 are reported 
as occurring in the previous ten years, and 51 be- 
fore that date. So far from being forgotten, the 
hallucinations coinciding with death appear to be 
remembered too well. It is clear that as the ex- 
perience recedes into the past the closeness of the 
coincidence is apt to be magnified, or the narrative 
in some other way unconsciously improved.^ After 

* For details of the estimate see Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. x., pp. 62-69. 

^ Actually 65, but three of the cases are strongly suspected of having been 
*' imported" into the census — i. e,, the persons who collected the answers 
in these three cases knew of the vision beforehand, and it is believed that 
but for this knowledge they would not have questioned these particular 
persons. These cases are therefore excluded from the calculation. 

2 The average age of the narrators of death coincidences is 46 (that of 
our informants generally being only 40), so that as experiences under 10 years 



io8 On Hallucinations in General 

making liberal allowance for this unconscious exag- 
geration, and for another disturbing cause — the 
possible influence of selection on the results,^ — the 
probable number of death coincidences is reduced 
to 30. 

We have then these 30 coincidences with death 
in 1300 apparitions. But the death rate for the 
last completed decade (i 881-1890) of the period 
under review was 19.15 — i. e.y the probability that 
any person taken at random would die within any 
given 24 hours was 19.15 in 365,000 = about i in 
19,000. If there is no causal connection between 
the hallucination and the death, we should find but 

I coincidence in 19,000 — we actually find i in 43. 
We may dismiss, then, the suggestion of explana- 
tion by chance coincidence. But it need hardly be 
said that we are not, therefore, entitled to claim that 
we have found an irrefragable proof of telepathy. 
The coincidences, it is true, did not occur by 
chance, if the facts have been correctly reported. 
But on the one hand, the frequency of non-coin- 

of age are excluded, there are 26 years included in the remoter period. If 

II experiences occur in 10 years, we should look for 29 at most in the 
remaining 26 years — we find 51 ! 

* The non-coincidental hallucinations, which are much less interesting, 
would probably not be known beforehand to the collector : and even if they 
were, the collector would not be likely to go out of his way to collect such 
an account. Further, apparitions at the time of death are naturally more 
talked about, the collectors would probably know of some such amongst 
their acquaintance, and unless, in recording the answers, they systematically 
canvassed the whole of the neighbourhood accessible to them, it is almost 
certain that they would yield to the temptation to " bag " a death coin- 
cidence, even though it did not, properly speaking, come within their 
ground. See Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. x., pp. 210 and 243. 



On Hallucinations in General 109 

cidental hallucinations may be much greater, owing 
to the operation of forgetfulness, than the census 
would indicate ; on the other hand, there may have 
been much more exaggeration in the coincidences 
than we have allowed for. 

It is scarcely conceivable that any error in our 
estimate of the rate of forgetfulness should be suf- 
ficient to affect the conclusion to a material extent. 
To adopt the alternative explanation is to assume, 
not merely that our informants generally have been 
guilty of serious inaccuracies, but that the alleged 
" percipients," together with their friends who have 
furnished corroborative testimony, have given de- 
tailed reports of incidents which never took place, 
and that in some cases notes have been made in 
diaries supporting these fictitious reports. In other 
words, we have to suppose the occurrence of nu- 
merous hallucinations, not of sense but of memory, 
shared in many cases by several members of a 
household. Such an assumption is perhaps not 
inconceivable ; but it involves violent improbabil- 
ities, and it can scarcely at present claim any ex- 
ternal support. At any rate those who carefully 
weigh the evidence will, no doubt, agree that 
neither assumption will justify us, without further 
enquiry, in summarily dismissing the incidents 
reported.^ 

But even if a causal connection between the 

* For full details of the estimates cited in the text, the reader is referred 
to the " Report of the Census Committee," Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. x., 
pp. 207-251. 



no On Hallucinations in General 

apparition and the death of the person represented 
is admitted, it is felt by some that the transition 
from the experimental cases of thought transference 
to these much more impressive spontaneous ap- 
pearances is so violent as to render it doubtful 
whether both sets of phenomena can be referred 
to the same category. There are two main points 
in which the coincident hallucinations now under 
consideration differ from the mass of the experi- 
mental evidence : (i) the distance over which the 
force is assumed to operate is very much greater, 
(2) in the experimental cases it is the idea actively 
present to the agent — the image of the card or 
number — which intrudes into the consciousness of 
the percipient ; but in these other cases the actual 
percept represents what can at most have occupied 
but a subordinate place in the thoughts of the pre- 
sumed agent — to wit, his own personal appearance. 
As regards the first point, it is true that in the 
experimental cases we have little evidence for the 
operation of telepathy even at a distance of a few 
miles ; and that in most experiments it has been 
found difficult to secure success even when the two 
parties were in adjoining rooms. But, as shown in 
a preceding chapter, there are circumstances which, 
apart from any actual diminution in the telepathic 
energy, would militate against success when agent 
and percipient are no longer in the same room. 
And in most of the spontaneous cases, it must be 
remembered, the emotional energy liberated, on 
which the strength of the telepathic impulse seems 



On Hallucinations in General m 

to depend, must be Immeasurably greater than in 
tedious experiments with cards and pictures. To 
a man whose experience of illumination was re- 
stricted to a rushlight It would appear incredible 
that the same familiar energy could cross the gulf 
which separates the earth from SIrlus. 

As regards the second point, the difference in 
the nature of the impression made upon the per- 
cipient's mind may probably throw some light on 
the mechanism of the transmission. In experi- 
mental cases we often meet with the transmission 
of a detailed scene. It Is but rarely in the spon- 
taneous cases — and then as a rule only in dreams 
or some state analogous to somnambulic clairvoy- 
ance — that we find details of the agent's actual 
appearance and surroundings accurately reflected 
in the percipient's mind. The apparition commonly 
consists simply of a figure, clothed as the percipient 
was accustomed to see the agent clothed ; whereas 
to be true to life the phantasm would as a rule 
have to appear In bed. In cases where the vision 
gives no information as to the agent's clothing and 
surroundings generally — and, as already said, such 
cases form the great majority of the well attested 
narratives^ — we may suppose that what is trans- 
mitted is not any part of the superficial content of 
the agent's consciousness, but an impression from 
the underlying massive and permanent elements 
which represent his personal identity. The per- 
cipient's imagination is clearly competent to clothe 
such an impression with appropriate imagery, must 



112 On Hallucinations in General 

Indeed so clothe it if it is to rise into consciousness 
at all. 

But fortunately we are not compelled to make 
the violent transition referred to ; for some of the 
most remarkable hallucinations of which we have 
authentic records have been produced experiment- 
ally. Some Instances of the kind were published 
in Phantasms of the Living. It was after reading 
the accounts there given that Mr. Clarence God- 
frey, a friend of my own, determined to make a 
similar experiment on his own account. He wrote 
to me on the i6th November, 1886, as follows : 

No. 28. From Mr, Clarence Godfrey ' 

I was so impressed by the account on p. 105 [of Phantasms 
of the Living^ vol. i.] that I determined to put the matter to an 
experiment. 

Retiring at 10.45 (^^ ^^ ^5^^ November, 1886), I deter- 
mined to appear, if possible, to a friend, and accordingly I set 
myself to work with all the volitional and determinative energy 
which I possess to stand at the foot of her bed. I need not 
say that I never dropped the slightest hint beforehand as to 
my intention, such as could mar the experiment, nor had I 
mentioned the subject to her. As the " agent " I may describe 
my own experiences. 

Undoubtedly the imaginative faculty was brought exten- 
sively into play, as well as the volitional, for I endeavoured to 
translate myself, spiritually, into her room, and to attract her 
attention, as it were, while standing there. My effort was 
sustained for perhaps eight minutes, after which I felt tired, 
and was soon asleep. 

The next thing I was conscious of was meeting the lady 
next morning (i. e.^ in a dream, I suppose ?), and asking her at 

* Studies in Psychical Research, by F. Podmore, pp. 249-252. 



On Hallucinations in General 113 

once if she had seen me last night. The reply came, " Yes." 
*' How ? " I inquired. Then in words strangely clear and low, 
like a well audible whisper, came the answer, ** I was sitting 
beside you." These words, so clear, awoke me instantly, and 
I felt I must have been dreaming ; but on reflection I remem- 
bered what I had been " willing " before I fell asleep, and it 
struck me, " This must be a reflex action from the percipient." 
My watch showed 3.40 a.m. The following is what I wrote 
immediately in pencil, standing in my night dress: "As I 
reflected upon those clear words, they struck me as being quite 
intuitive^ I mean subjective^ and to have proceeded yir^/;^ within^ 
as my own conviction, rather than a communication from any 
one else. And yet I can't remember her face at all, as one 
can after a vivid dream." 

But the words were uttered in a clear, quick tone, which 
was most remarkable, and awoke me at once. 

My friend, in the note with which she sent me the enclosed 
account of her own experience, says: "I remember the man 
put all the lamps out soon after I came upstairs, and that 
is only done about a quarter to four." 

Mr. Godfrey received from the percipient on the 
1 6th November an account of her side of the ex- 
perience, and at his request she wrote as follows : 

Yesterday — viz., the morning of November i6th, 1886 — 
about half-past three o'clock, I woke up with a start and an 
idea that some one had come into the room. I heard a 
curious sound, but fancied it might be the birds in the ivy 
outside. Next I experienced a strange restless longing to 
leave the room and go downstairs. This feeling became so 
overpowering that at last I rose and lit a candle, and went 
down, thinking if I could get some soda-water it might have a 
quieting effect. On returning to my room I saw Mr. Godfrey 
standing under the large window on the staircase. He was 
dressed in his usual style, and with an expression on his face 
that I have noticed when he has been looking very earnestly 

8 



114 On Hallucinations in General 

at anything. He stood there, and I held up the candle and 
gazed at him for three or four seconds in utter amazement, 
and then, as I passed up the staircase, he disappeared. The 
impression left on my mind was so vivid that I fully intended 
waking a friend who occupied the same room as myself, but 
remembering that I should only be laughed at as romantic 
and imaginative, refrained from doing so. 

I was not frightened at the appearance of Mr. Godfrey, 
but felt much excited, and could not sleep afterwards. 

On the 2 1 St of the same month I heard a full 
account of the incident given above from Mr. 

Godfrey, and on the day following from Mrs. . 

Mrs. told me that the figure appeared quite 

distinct and lifelike at first, though she could not 
remember to have noticed more than the upper 
part of the body. As she looked, it grew more and 

more shadowy, and finally faded away. Mrs. , it 

should be added, had previously seen two phan- 
tasmal figures representing a parent whom she had 
recently lost. ^ 

Mr. Godfrey at our request made two other 

trials, without, of course, letting Mrs. know his 

intention. The first of these attempts was without 
result, owing perhaps to the date chosen, as he was 
aware at the time, being unsuitable. But in a trial 
made on the 7th December, 1886, complete success 

was again attained. Mrs. has had no visual 

hallucinations except on the occasions mentioned. 

It will be noticed that the dress of the apparition 

' These details are taken from notes made by me immediately after the 
interview. 



On Hallucinations in General 115 

represented that In which the percipient was accus- 
tomed to see Mr. Godfrey, not the dress which he 
was actually wearing at the time. If the image in 
these cases is in fact nothing but the outward ex- 
pression of the percipient's thought, this result Is of 
course what we should naturally expect to find. 

The next case is remarkable because three per- 
sons in the house appear to have been affected by 
the agent's experiment. Mr. F. W. Rose had, he 
tells us, mesmerised Mrs. E., the percipient, on 
several occasions. Some time in 1891 or 1892 he 
endeavoured *' to send his astral body " to Mrs. 
E. On the first attempt Mrs. E. spent a rest- 
less night and the maid was disturbed by hear- 
ing a bell ringing. Mr. Rose mentioned his at- 
tempt two or three days afterwards. On the second 
occasion — Mr. Rose had, of course, not Intimated 
beforehand his intention of experimenting — Mrs. 
E. and her daughter Mrs. A. were both disturbed. 

No. 29 
Mrs. A., the daughter, writes^ : 

Feb. 5th, 1896. 
I cannot remember the date ; but one night two or three 
years ago, I came back from the theatre to my mother's flat at 
6, S. -street ; and after I had been into her bedroom and told 
her all about it, I went to bed about i a. m. I had not been 
asleep long when I started up frightened, fancying that I had 
heard some one walk down the passage towards my mother's 
room; but hearing nothing more went again to sleep. I started 
up alarmed in the same way three or four times before dawn. 

^Journal, S. P. R., May, 1896. 



ii6 On Hallucinations in General 

In the morning, upon inquiry, my mother (who was ill at the 
time) only told me she had had a very disturbed night. 

Then I asked my brother, who told me that he had suffered 
in the same way as I had, starting up several times in a 
frightened manner. On hearing this, my mother then told me 
that she had seen an apparition of Mr. Rose. 

Later in the day Mr. Rose came in, and my mother asked 
him casually if he had been doing anything last night ; upon 
which he told us that he had gone to bed willing that he 
should visit and appear to us. We made him promise not to 
repeat the experiment. 

A night or so just before, I remember the servant came into 
my mother's bedroom, alarmed, at 3 a.m.; she said she had 
heard the electric bell ring. The bell at that time of night is 
inaccessible to the casual passer-by, as the outer door is then 
closed. The servant, I believe, heard it more than once ; she 
cried and fancied it was an omen of her mother's death. 

Mrs. E., in narrating the incident of the elec- 
tric bell, adds that she and Mrs. A. had both passed 
a restless and uncomfortable night on that occasion ; 
and that on the Sunday following Mr. Rose happened 
to mention that he had tried on that day to *' send 
his spook." Mrs. E. then continues : 

Feb. I2th, 1896. 

. . . Some weeks passed,' when I was struck down with 
a bad attack of influenza, and again my daughter came to 
nurse me. 

I had quite recovered, but had not yet been out of my room* 
but was to go into the drawing-room next day. On this par- 
ticular night, my daughter had gone to the theatre and my son 
remained with me. He had bid me good-night about half-past 

' Mrs. A., who has just read this, seems to think now that the two occur- 
rences were separated by some weeks, not days as she wrote in her statement 
(Note by collector). 



On Hallucinations in General 117 

ten and gone to his room, and I lay reading, when suddenly a 
strange creepy sensation came over me, and I felt my eyes 
drawn towards the left hand side of the room. I felt I must 
look, and there distinct against the curtain was a blue lumin- 
ous mist. 

I could not for some time move my eyes away, and all the 
time I was really terrified, for I thought it was something un- 
canny. I wished to call my son, but fought down the feeling, 
knowing I should only upset him if he thought I was nervous, 
and possibly they would think I was going to be ill again. So 
I battled down my fears, and making up 'my mind it was all 
imagination, turned round with my back to this misty light 
and continued my book. Soon the feeling of fear passed 
away; but all desire for sleep had also gone, and for a long 
time I lay reading, — when again quite suddenly came the 
dread and the feeling of awe. 

This time I was impelled to cast my eyes downward to the 
side of my bed, and there, creeping upwards towards me, was 
the same blue luminous mist. I was too terrified to move, and 
remember keeping my book straight up before my face as 
though to ward off a blow, at the same time exerting all my 
strength of will and determination not to be afraid, — when 
suddenly, as if with a jerk, above the top of my book came the 
brow and eyes of Mr. Rose. In an instant all fear left me. 
I dropped my book with an exclamation not complimentary, 
for then I knew that Mr. Rose had been trying the same thing 
again. In one moment mist and face were gone. 

It is unfortunate that in this case no notes were 
made by either party, and that the date of the 
experience cannot now be fixed. But Mr. Rose 
has given us a concordant account, so that the 
coincidence is confirmed by the testimony of three 
witnesses. 

In the case next to be quoted, we have accounts 
from both agent and percipient written before the 



ii8 On Hallucinations in General 

result was known. The case, moreover, presents 
other features of interest. Miss Danvers and Mrs. 
Fleetwood (both names are fictitious) are ladies 
who were well known to the late Frederic Myers. 
He asked Miss Danvers to endeavour to appear to 
Mrs. Fleetwood without communicating her inten- 
tion to that lady. On June 20, 1894, he received 
the following letter, dated 19th June, with two 
enclosures : 

No. 30. From Miss Danvers * 

"On Sunday night at 12 p.m., I tried to appear to Mrs. 
Fleetwood [at a distance of about nine miles] and succeeded 
in feeling as if I were really in her room. I had previously 
written my statement, which I enclose, together with Mrs. 
Fleetwood's, which she has just sent me. She wrote it also at 
the iime^ not knowing I was trying to appear. I was lying 
down, not kneeling, but the other details are correct." 

A memorandum, signed by Miss Danvers, was enclosed, as 
follows: "June 17, 1894, 12 p.m. I write this just before 
trying to appear to Mrs. Fleetwood. My hair is down and I 
am going to lie down and try to appear with my eyes closed." 

Also a memorandum, signed by Mrs. Fleetwood, as follows : 
** Sunday night, June 17, 1894. — I woke from my first sleep to 
see Edith Danvers apparently kneeling on an easy chair by my 
bedside, her profile turned towards me, her hair flowing, and 
eyes closed, or looking quite down. I felt startled at first, as 
I always do, on seeing visions in waking moments, but deter- 
mined to keep quiet ; and after I was fully awake and able to 
reason with myself, the figure still remained, and then gradu- 
ally faded like a dissolving view. I got up and looked at the 
clock. It was just twelve. I was alone in the room. As I 
now write, it is about two minutes after twelve." 

In conversation on June 23rd [Mr. Myers writes] Miss Dan- 

^ Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. x., p. 418. 



On Hallucinations in General ng 

vers told me that she had seen, in a sort of flash, Mrs. Fleetwood 
start up in bed, rest on her elbow, and lock towards her. She 
had not been clearly aware of her own attitude in Mrs. Fleet- 
wood's room, although she seemed aware of her position^ which 
corresponded to the place towards which Mrs. Fleetwood 
gazed. Miss Danvers had never previously made notes of an 
experiment, and had not seen the importance of writing down 
this point at once, nor had she felt confident that Mrs. Fleet- 
wood really saw her. Mrs. Fleetwood also sent me a letter 
of Miss Danvers to herself, dated June i8th, in which, among 
various other matters. Miss Danvers asks, " Have I appeared 
to you at all ? I tried last night, but you may not have 
been alone." There is, of course, therefore, no proof that 
Miss Danvers's sense of invasion of the room was more than 
subjective. 

In a later experiment Miss Danvers claims to 
have seen in Mrs. Fleetwood s room the third vol- 
ume of Marcella, which she regards as a proof that 
she, on her side, acquired supernormal knowledge 
of Mrs. Fleetwood's surroundings. Mr. Godfrey 
also, it will be remembered, believed that he had 
received a reflex impression from the percipient. 
It is possible that in every case of telepathic action 
the influence is reciprocal. If it were so, the fact 
would in many cases necessarily escape observation ; 
since in some of the most striking instances the 
agent was on his deathbed, or was passing through 
some other crisis, in the stress of which the com- 
paratively feeble telepathic message would be likely 
to pass unregarded. There are, at any rate, very 
few well attested cases in which there is evidence, 
beyond the narrator's own belief to that effect, for a 
reciprocal affection. We have two cases, however. 



I20 On Hallucinations in General 

In which the narrator had an unusually vivid dream 
of being at home ; in the first case unexplained 
footsteps were simultaneously heard in the house 
by five persons and recognised as resembling those 
of the dreamer. In the second case, the figure of 
the dreamer was actually seen and heard in the 
house.^ In a third case the narrator awoke under 
the impression that she was a child again In the old 
home and called on her sister, ** Jessie, Jessie." 
The cry awoke her husband who testifies to the 
fact. That same night her sister — 300 or 400 miles 
away — was awakened by hearing her name twice 
called in the sister's volce.^ In another case the 
husband, absent from home on a journey, willed 
himself to his wife's bedside and seemed to himself 
to be standing there. His figure was actually seen 
at the time by his wife at her bedside.^ 

In none of these cases, as said, is there clear 
evidence of reciprocity ; but they certainly indicate 
that one of the conditions of telepathic affection at 
a distance may be a clear realisation on the agent's 
part of the percipient's surroundings. In the fol- 
lowing case a reciprocal hallucination was produced, 
but there was no recognition of the fact at the time 
by either percipient ; nor was there any emotional 
disturbance or exceptional crisis to account for the 
coincidence. The occurrence was Investigated by 
Mr. A. W. Orr of DIdsbury, who enclosed the two 
following accounts on July 26, 1905. 

» Journal, S. P. R., December, 1898. 

'//^;V/., June, 1895. ^ Ibid. 



On Hallucinations in General 121 

No. 31. From Mrs. Ellen Green* 

I had been staying at the house of Mr. Ward, a retired Mas- 
ter in the Mercantile Marine, who resides at Northwood House, 
Llanishen, near Cardiff, and on Tuesday, June 20th [1905], he 
drove me over to Whitchurch (about two miles from Llani- 
shen) where I was to spend a couple of days with friends, Mr. 
and Mrs. Berwick. He left me there at about eleven o'clock 
in the forenoon and returned to his home. On the following 
afternoon at about half-past three I was sitting alone in the 
drawing-room, Mrs. Berwick being in her own room, and, on 
happening to look up, I saw Mr. Ward standing at the bay 
window and looking in at me as though he desired to speak to 
me. He was in his usual dress, and is not a man to be easily 
mistaken for any one else. Thinking he had brought some 
letters for me, I rose hastily and went towards the window call- 
ing to him and waving my hand to him, partly in greeting and 
partly as a sign for him to go to the hall door, but when I 
reached the window I was surprised not to see him. I con- 
cluded, however, that he must have gone to the door without 
my noticing and so I hurried to the door to let him in. I was 
exceedingly surprised and alarmed when I opened the hall door 
to see nobody there, nor anywhere about the house. Later 
when Mrs. Berwick came down I told her — and also Mr. Ber- 
wick — of my experience, and like myself they felt extremely 
anxious lest some harm had happened to Mr. Ward, for whom 
we all felt a strong regard. 

Mr. and Mrs. Berwick, with whom Mrs. Green 
was staying, append their signatures, as confirming 
the accuracy of the account. 

Captain Ward's account of his side of the experi- 
ence is as follows : 

Northwood, Birchgrove, Cardiff, 

2nd August, 1905. 

I have pleasure in reply to your letter to give you here the 

* yournal, S. P. R., February, 1906. 



122 On Hallucinations in General 

facts of the incident as it actually happened. On the 20th 
June last I drove Mrs. Green in my pony trap to Mr. Berwick's 
house in Whitchurch, Cardiff, and on returning home to 
above address, met with an accident, being thrown out of my 
trap backwards, hurting my neck and ankle. On the follow- 
ing day the 21st inst. I was unable to leave the house, and lay 
on the sofa in my dining-room, when between the hours of 
3 and 4 P.M. I distinctly heard Mrs. Green's voice outside the 
front door calling me. I managed to rise from the couch and 
look out through the window to call her in, but found no per- 
son there ; the time would exactly agree with that when Mrs. 
Green saw my form at Whitchurch. 

This I found out on speaking to Mrs. Green on Thursday 
the 22d inst. I had not seen her between the 20th and 22nd. 
The above are the facts of the case. 

Frederick Ward. 

Mrs. Green, it should be added, is a trance 
speaker on Spiritualist platforms and a natural 
clairvoyant, who has had other remarkable experi- 
ences of the kind. The accounts, it will be seen, 
were written down within a few weeks of the 
occurrences described; and indeed the curiously in- 
conclusive character of the coincidence affords in 
itself some indication that the narrative has not 
been unconsciously improved. 

Other instances of possibly reciprocal affection 
will be found in Phantasms of the Living, vol. ii., 
chapter xiv. ; and in Apparitions and Thought 
Transference, p. 299. 

In publishing some cases of the type in 1886 Mr. 



On Hallucinations in General 123 

Gurney pointed out that the evidence then avail- 
able was "so small that the genuineness of the type 
might fairly be called in question".^ And the 
twenty-two years which have elapsed cannot be 
said to have added material confirmation. 

* Phantasms y vol. ii., p. 167. 



CHAPTER VI 

TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS 

IN the following pages a few specimen cases will 
be cited to illustrate the questions dealt with 
in the last chapter. In the selection of these ex- 
amples I have not, however, confined myself to the 
material brought together by the census, but have 
drawn also upon the records accumulated by the 
Society since 1894. In view, however, of the de- 
terioration in the quality of the evidence effected 
by the lapse of time, as shown in the last chapter, I 
have endeavoured to select narratives where the 
record was comparatively recent; in one case only 
of those cited in the present chapter does the in- 
terval between record and event exceed ten years ; 
in most of the examples the account, if not actually 
written before the event was known, is dated only a 
few days later. 

In the first case we have to deal with an auditory 
hallucination. The coincidence in this case may 
appear very trivial. But it is to be noted that the 
percipient at the time connected her experience 
with the presumed agent. Further, it made suffi- 
cient impression upon her to lead her to mention 
it in a letter. The correspondence has fortunately 

124 



Telepathic Hallucinations 125 

been preserved, and I have been permitted to see 
it and to verify the extracts quoted. The account 
which follows was written in 1 889. 

No. 32. From Miss C. Clark* 

I heard some one sobbing, one evening last August (1888), 
about 10 P.M. It was in the house, in Dunbar, Scotland, as I 
was preparing to go to bed. Feeling convinced that it was my 
younger sister, I advised another sister not to go into the next 
room, whence the sounds seemed to proceed. After waiting 
with me for a few minutes, this sister went into the dining-room, 
and returned to me saying that our youngest sister was in the 
dining-room and not crying at all. Then I at once thought 
there must be something the matter with my greatest friend, a 
girl of twenty-four, then in Lincolnshire. I wrote next day 
asking her if at that hour on the previous night she had been 
crying. In her next letter she said yes ; she was suffering great 
pain with toothache, just at the time, and was unable to restrain 
a few sobs. . . . 

This has been the only similar experience I have had. 

Cecily C. Clark. 

The following are extracts from the contem- 
porary correspondence. 

Extracts from Letters 
I. (From Miss Clark to Miss Maughan.) 

Dunbar, Wednesday, August 22nd, 1888, 9 P.M. 
Were you crying on Sunday night near 11 o'clock ? because 

I distinctly heard someone crying, and supposed it was H 

in the next room, but she was n't there at all. Then I thought 
. , . that it might be you. . . . 

Thursday, August 23rd, 1888, 4.45 p.m. 
[Continuation of letter of August 22nd, not posted until 
23rd.— F. P.] 

• Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. x., p. 291. 



126 Telepathic Hallucinations 

Thank you very much for your letter just come. I am so 
sorry your face is sore ; did it make you cry on Sunday 
night ? . . . 

II. (From Miss Maughan to Miss Clark, received by the latter 

on August 23, 1888.) 

E. KiRKBY Vicarage, Spilsby, 

Tuesday evening, August 21st, 1888. 
[Post-mark Spilsby, August 22nd, 1888.] 
. . . On Sunday we went to see Wroxham Broad. . . . 
We had an immense amount of walking to do altogether, and 
I think I got a little cold in my face in the morning, and all 
night I suffered with it, and my face is swelled still. . . . 

III. (From Miss Maughan to Miss Clark, received by the 

latter August 26, 1888.) 

Thursday, August 23rd, 11 p.m. 

I am putting bread poultices on my gums. I have never 
had such a huge swelling before, and it won't go down. It is 
so horribly uncomfortable. . . . 

Saturday afternoon. — Thanks for letter. Yes, I was crying 
on Sunday night — only on account of the pain. It was awful, 
but I only cried quietly, as Edith was asleep. . . . 

But visual hallucinations are at once more im- 
pressive and more valuable as evidence. I will 
begin with a case in which it is hard to know 
whether to class the percipient's impression as an 
illusion or a hallucination. The point is not of 
material importance since the impression, whatever 
its nature, was of an exceptional, if not actually 
unique character in the percipient's experience. 
The vision, it will be seen, preceded the death by 
rather more than twelve hours, but occurred during 
the period of the fatal seizure. 



Telepathic Hallucinations 127 

No. $s- From Prince Victor Duleep Singh * 

HiGHCLERE Castle, Newbury, November 8, 1894. 

On Saturday, October 21, 1893, I was in Berlin with Lord 
Carnarvon. We went to a theatre together and returned 
before midnight. I went to bed, leaving, as I always do, a 
bright light in the room (electric light). As I lay in bed I 
found myself looking at an oleograph which hung oh the wall 
opposite my bed. I saw distinctly the face of my father, the 
Maharajah Duleep Singh, looking at me, as it were out of this 
picture ; not like a portrait of him, but his real head. I con- 
tinued looking and still saw my father looking at me with an 
intent expression. Though not in the least alarmed, I was so 
puzzled that I got out of bed to see what the picture really 
was. It was an oleograph commonplace picture of a girl 
holding a rose and leaning out of a balcony, an arch forming 
a background. The girl's face was quite small, whereas my 
father's head was the size of life and filled the frame. 

I was in no special anxiety about my father at the time, and 
had for some years known him to be seriously out of health ; 
but there had been no news to alarm me about him. 

Next morning (Sunday) I told the incident to Lord 
Carnarvon. 

That evening (Sunday) late, on returning home. Lord Car- 
narvon brought two telegrams into my room and handed them 
to me. I said at once, ** My father is dead." That was the 
fact. He had had an apoplectic seizure on the Saturday even- 
ing at about nine o'clock, from which he never recovered, but 
continued unconscious and died on the Sunday, early in the 
afternoon. My father had often said to me that if I was not 
with him when he died he would try and come to me. 

I am not subject to hallucinations, and have only once had 
any similar experience, when, as a schoolboy, I fancied I saw 
the figure of a dead schoolboy who had died in the room 
which I slept in with my brother ; but I attached no importance 
to this. 

Victor Duleep Singh. 

^ Journal ^ S. P.R., December, 1894. 



128 Telepathic Hallucinations 

Lord Carnarvon writes : 

I can confirm Prince V. Duleep Singh's account. I heard 
the incident from him on the Sunday morning. The same 
evening, at about 12 p.m., he received a telegram notifying 
him of his father's sudden illness and death. We had no 
knowledge of his father's illness. He has never told me of 
any similar previous occurrence. 

Carnarvon. 

The Maharajah Duleep Singh died on Sunday, 
October 22, 1893. 

We have several cases in which the sight of a 
material object appears to have facilitated the hal- 
lucination. Thus Edmund Gurney has quoted, in 
Phantasms of the Livings a case where a young girl 
saw a familiar face growing out of a pansy. ^ In 
another case the percipient saw the figure of her 
mother in a white dimity curtain at the foot of the 
bed. When the curtain was shaken the figure dis- 
appeared.^ In Case 41 below, the percipient saw a 
face form on the panels of a wardrobe illuminated 
by the moon. 

In the next case the vision seems to have been 
seen within an hour of the death. Here again the 
hallucination appears not to have been completely 
externalised. 

No. 34. From Madame Broussiloff ' 

S. Petersburg, April 19th, 1895. 
On the i6th (28th) of February of this year (1895) between 
9 and 10 o'clock in the evening, I, the undersigned, was sit- 
ting in our drawing-room — the small one — facing the large 

> Vol. ii., p. 28. '^ Journal, S. P. R., June, 1896. 

*Ibid.,]n\y, 1895 



Telepathic Hallucinations 129 

drawing-room which I could see in its entire length. My 
husband, his brother with his wife, and my mother were also 
sitting in the same room with me round a large round table. 
I was writing down my household accounts for the day, whilst 
the others were carrying on some gay conversation. Having 
accidentally raised my head and looked into the large drawing- 
room, I noticed, with astonishment, that a large grey shadow 
had passed from the door of the dining-room to that of the 
ante-chamber ; and it came into my head that the figure I had 
seen bore a striking resemblance in stature to Colonel Av*- 
Meinander, an acquaintance of ours, who had lived in this 
very lodging for a long time. At the first moment I wished to 
say at once that a ghost had just flashed before me, but 
stopped, as I was afraid of being laughed at by my husband's 
brother and his wife, and also of being scolded by my hus- 
band, who, in view of the excitement which I showed when 
such phenomena were taking place, tried to convince me that 
they were the fruit of my fancy. As I knew that Meinander 
was alive and well, and was commander of the " Malorossiisky " 
40th regiment of dragoons, I did not say anything then; but 
when I was going to bed, I related to my mother what I had 
seen, and the next morning could not refrain from mentioning 
it to my husband. 

Our astonishment was extreme when on the i8th of Febru- 
ary (2nd of March) we learned that Nicholas Ottovitch Av- 
Meinander had actually died after a short illness on the i6th 
(28th) of February at 9 o'clock in the evening, in the town of 
Stashovo,'' where his regiment is stationed. 

Anna Nicolaievna Broussiloff. 

Madame Broussiloff's mother, Madame Hage- 
meister, and Colonel Broussiloff write independently 
to say that they remember hearing of Madame 
Broussiloff's experience before the news of the 

* Particle equivalent to the German " von" (the name is a Swedish one). 

* Government of Radom, Poland, 1200 versts from Petersburg. 



I30 Telepathic Hallucinations 

death came. Colonel Broussiloff adds that from 
the obituary notice in the Novate Vremia, No. 
6816, it appears that Colonel Meinander died at 
9 P.M. on February i6th (28th). 

The narrative in this case presents a rather un- 
usual feature. The percipient was In company with 
several other persons, but her experience was un- 
shared. In the great majority of cases the seer of 
the hallucination was alone, a peculiarity which is 
no doubt due to the dreamlike nature of the ex- 
perience : when more than one person is present it 
is frequently the case that the hallucination Is shared 
by all. The problem involved in this " collective " 
perciplence will be discussed later. 

In the next case the percipient's vision occurred 
about two hours after the death of the child. It 
seems possible that in this case the telephone clerk 
acted as agent. ^ 

No. 35. From Mrs. Michell ' 
The Hollies, St. Helens, Lancaster, May 8th, 1894. 
On the 25th of last month I was sitting in the nursery, and 
my little daughter Gwendoline was playing with her dolls, and 
she suddenly laughed so as to attract my attention, and I 
asked her what she was laughing at. She said, " O mother, I 
thought I saw little Jack in that chair " — a vacant chair in the 
room — and indicating her little cousin. About five minutes 
after this the clerk telephoned from the office saying he had 
just received a telegram from Penzance announcing the death 
of little Jack. It was about half-past nine in the morning 

*See, in this connection. Cases 39 and 40 in the present chapter, and 
cases 42 and others in Chapter X. 
•^ Jourital, S. P. R.. January, 1895. 



Telepathic Hallucinations 131 

when the incident occurred in the nursery at St. Helens. The 
death in Penzance took place at about half-past seven on the 
same morning. E. Michell. 

In reply to our further inquiries, Mr. Michell 
wrote : 

May 28th, 1894. 

Gwendoline is five years and four months old. 

I am not aware that she has had any previous experience of 
the kind related to Mr. Macdonald, but that the one in ques- 
tion is a fact I have not the slightest doubt. 

She knows the clerk at our office, and he has often conversed 
with her, and occasionally played with her in an ordinary way. 

The impression she had was just prior to the clerk's tele- 
phoning my wife, and although the clerk did not think about 
my daughter missing Jack at all, yet Mrs. Michell herself was 
anxiously wondering what the news respecting Jack would be. 

There was no one else in the nursery besides my wife and 
daughter, but Mrs. Michell was very deeply impressed with 
the matter, and then to receive the message very shortly after 
forced the matter upon her mind still deeper, and she told me 
immediately I arrived home. Jas. J. Michell. 

** Little Jack," it should be added, died from 
convulsions in teething. 

The percipient's impression in the next case 
passed through three separate stages. It began 
with a vivid sense of an actual presence ; it then 
assumed the form of a transparent hallucination 
apparently like that seen by Madame Broussilofif ; 
in its final stage the experience, though of a very 
unusual type, must be classed as a pseudo-hallucina- 
tion, inasmuch as it did not actually enter the 
percipient's field of physical vision. 



132 Telepathic Hallucinations 

No. 36. From Mr. Percy Kearne 

37 AvoNMORE Gardens, West Kensington, 

24th December, 1894. 

On the evening of February 10, 1894, I was sitting in my 
room expecting the return of two friends from a concert in 
the provinces where they had been performing. The friends 
in question had lived with me for some years, and we were 
more than usually attached to one another. I had no know- 
ledge by what particular train they intended returning to town, 
but knew when the last train they could catch was due to ar- 
rive in London (9.5 p.m.) and how long to a few minutes they 
would take from the terminus to get home (about 10 p.m.). 
Our profession entails a great deal of travelling; my friends 
have had plenty of experience in this direction, and there was 
no question of their being well able to look after themselves. 
I may just add that one of these friends has made the same 
journey weekly for the last eight or nine years, so that I knew 
quite well his usual time of arrival at Liverpool Street. 

On the day mentioned they were performing at an afternoon 
concert, and I had every reason to believe they would be tired 
and get home as soon as possible. I allowed half-an-hour be- 
yond the usual time (10.30 p.m.) of arrival to elapse before I 
got at all uneasy, speculating as people will under such cir- 
cumstances as to what was keeping them, although arguing to 
myself all the time that there was not the slightest occasion 
for alarm. I then took up a book in which I was much inter- 
ested, sitting in an easy chair before the fire with a reading 
lamp close to my right side, and in such a position that only 
by deliberately turning round could I see the window on my 
left, before which heavy chenille curtains were drawn. I 
had read some twenty minutes or so, was thoroughly absorbed 
in the book, my mind was perfectly quiet, and for the time 
being my friends were quite forgotten, when suddenly without 
a moment's warning my whole being seemed roused to the 
highest state of tension or aliveness, and I was aware, with an 

» Journal, S. P. R., February, 1895. 



Telepathic Hallucinations 133 

intenseness not easily imagined by those who have never ex- 
perienced it, that another being or presence was not only in 
the room but close to me. I put my book down, and although 
my excitement was great, I felt quite collected and not con- 
scious of any sense of fear. Without changing my position, 
and looking straight at the fire, I knew somehow that my 
friend A. H. was standing at my left elbow, but so far behind 
me as to be hidden by the arm-chair in which I was leaning 
back. Moving my eyes round slightly without otherwise 
changing my position, the lower portion of one leg became 
visible, and I instantly recognised the grey-blue material of 
trousers he often wore, but the stuff appeared semi-transparent, 
reminding me of tobacco smoke in consistency. I could have 
touched it with my hand without moving more than my left 
arm. With that curious instinctive wish not to see more of 
such a " figure," I did no more than glance once or twice at 
the apparition, and then directed my gaze steadily at the fire in 
front of me. An appreciable space of time passed — probably 
several seconds in all, but seeming in reality much longer — 
when the most curious thing happened. Standing upright be- 
tween me and the window on my left, and at a distance of 
about four feet from me and almost immediately behind my 
chair, I saw perfectly distinctly the figure of my friend — the 
face very pale, the head slightly thrown back, the eyes shut, 
and on one side of the throat, just under the jaw, a wound 
with blood on it. The figure remained motionless with the 
arms close to the sides, and for some time, how long I can't 
say, I looked steadily at it; then all at once roused myself, 
turned deliberately round, the figure vanished, and I realised 
instantly that I had seen the figure behind me without moving 
from my first position — an impossible feat physically. I am 
perfectly certain I never moved my position from the first 
appearance of the figure as seen physically until it disappeared 
on my turning. 

Mr. Kearne then made a note of the time, and 
within an hour his friends returned. 



134 Telepathic Hallucinations 

My friend B. then came up, saying, " Come and see A. H., 
what a state he is in." I found him in the bathroom with his 
collar and shirt torn open, the front of the latter with blood 
upon it, and bathing a wound under his jaw which was bleed- 
ing. His face was very pale, and he was evidently suffering 
from a shock of some kind. As soon as I could I got an 
account of what had happened. 

They had arrived in London punctually, and feeling tired, 
although in good spirits, drove with a third gentleman, who 
had been performing with them, to a restaurant opposite 
King's Cross Station to have some supper. Before leaving 
the restaurant, my friend, A. H. (whose apparition I saw), 
complained of feeling faint from the heat of the place, went 
out into the street to get some fresh air, and had hardly got 
into the open when he felt his senses leave him, and he fell 
heavily forward, striking his jaw on the edge of the kerb, then 
rolling over on his back. On recovering consciousness, two 
policemen were standing over him, one of whom — failing to 
unfasten his collar to give him air — had cut both that and his 
tie. After informing the rest of the party of what had hap- 
pened, a cab was called, and my two friends were driven home 
as quickly as possible. The exact time that my friend A. H. 
fainted was not of course noted by them ; but judging by the 
average time a cab takes to do the distance, cut rather short 
on this occasion in the effort to get A. H. home quickly, it 
would correspond within three minutes to the time when the 
apparition appeared to me. 

The two friends referred to, Mr. Alfred Hobday 
and Mr. Arthur Bent, append their signatures to 
the narrative, in corroboration of its accuracy so far 
as they are concerned. 

In the following case the phantasm was suffi- 
ciently distinct and lifeHke for the colour of the 
dress to be noted. The experience, it will be seen, 



Telepathic Hallucinations 135 

was impressive enough to induce the percipient to 
make a note of the circumstance in her diary. 

No. 37. From Miss Hervey 

9 Tavistock Crescent, W.,* April 28, 1892. 

I saw the figure of my cousin (a nurse in Dublin) coming 
upstairs, dressed in grey. I was in Tasmania, and the time 
that I saw her was between 6 and 7 p.m. on April 21st, 1888. 

I had just come in from a ride and was in the best of 
health and spirits. I was between 31 and 32 years of age. 

I had lived with my cousin, and we were the greatest of 
friends, but my going to Tasmania in 1887 had, of course, 
separated us. She was a nurse, and at the time I saw her in 
April, 1888, she was dying of typhus fever, a fact unknown to 
me till 6 weeks after her death. Her illness lasted only 5 
days, and I heard of her death at the same time as of her 
illness. 

There was no one present with me at the time, but I nar- 
rated what I had seen to the friend with whom I was living, 
and asked why my cousin, Ethel B., should have been dressed 
in grey. My friend said that was the dress of the nurses in 
that particular hospital ; a fact unknown to me. 

The impression of seeing my cousin was so vivid that I 
wrote a long letter to her that night, saying I had had this 
vision. The letter, arriving after she was dead, was returned 
to me and I destroyed it." 

Rose B. E. I. Hervey. 

I called on Miss Hervey on July 21, 1892. She 
explained that she was staying at the time of her 
experience with Lady H. Miss Hervey and Lady 
H. had just returned from a drive, and Miss Hervey 
was leaving her room to cross the upper landing to 
Lady H.'s room to have tea. On passing the stairs 

^ Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. x., pp. 282-283. The account was written 
in answer to the census questions. 



136 Telepathic Hallucinations 

she saw the figure coming up. She recognised It at 
once and ran away to Lady H., without waiting to 
see the figure disappear, and told her what she had 
seen. Lady H. laughed at her, but told her to 
note It in her diary. This Miss Hervey did. I 
saw the entry: ** Saturday, April 21st, 1888, 6 
P.M. Vision of [nickname given] on landing in 
grey dress." The news of death did not arrive till 
June. Date of death, April 22, 1888, at 4.30 p.m. 
Lady H. writes : 

July 30th, 1893. 
Dear Sir, — Your letter dated April 6th has followed me 
back to England, and I should have answered it a week or two 
sooner, but I thought my son from Tasmania might be able to 
throw some light on your search for a definite corroboration of 
Miss Hervey's account of an apparition which she tells you she 
saw when in Tasmania with us in 1888. He, however, can do 
little more than I can for its confirmation. He recollects that 
Miss Hervey made such a statement at the time, and I seem 
to remember something about it, but nothing really definite. 

The dress of the nurses at the hospital In ques- 
tion Is a check pattern of white and blue with a lit- 
tle red. It has a greyish tone at a distance, but 
the colour coincidence is not sufficiently striking to 
carry much weight. The difference of time be- 
tween Tasmania and Dublin Is about ten hours, 
so that the vision preceded the death by about 
thirty-two hours. 

The great bulk of the cases In our collection are 
of the same type as the five narratives last quoted : 
the figure seen Is more or less realistic ; It is recog- 
nised by the person to wliom it appears ; and the 



Telepathic Hallucinations 137 

percipient is a relative or intimate friend. We now 
pass to cases which in one respect or another differ 
from this clearly defined type. 

The following case presents a grotesque feature 
which is almost without parallel in our records. 
In this case also the percipient, it will be observed, 
was in the company of others. The case was for- 
warded to us on May 5, 1892, by Mr. Raper of 
Trinity College, Oxford, who writes that he heard 
an account of the incident very soon after its 
occurrence. 

No. 38 From M. J. Dove * 

New College, Oxford. 

Just before last Christmas I went over to Liverpool with 
one of my brothers and my sister. It was a very fine, clear 
day, and there was a great crowd of people shopping in the 
streets. We were walking down Lord-street, one of the prin- 
cipal streets, when, passing me, I saw an old uncle of mine 
v/hom I knew very little, and had not seen for a very long 
time, although he lived near me. I saw three distinct shapes 
hobbling past (he was lame) one after the other in a line. It 
did n't seem to strike me at the moment as being in the least 
curious, not even there being three shapes in a line. I said 
to my sister, " I have just seen Uncle E., and I am sure he is 
dead." I said this as it were mechanically, and not feeling at 
all impressed. Of course my brother and sister laughed. We 
thought nothing more about it while in Liverpool. The first 
thing my mother said to us on getting home was, " I have 
some news " ; and then she told us that this uncle had died 
very early that morning. I don't know the particular hour. 
I saw the three shapes at about 12 in the morning. I felt 
perfectly fit and well, and was not thinking of my uncle in the 

' Journal, S. P. R., January, 1895. 



138 Telepathic Hallucinations 

least, nor did I know he was ill. Both my brother and my 
sister heard me say that I had seen him and believed he was 
dead, and they were equally astonished at hearing of his 
death on our return home. My uncle and I knew each other 
very little. In fact, he hardly knew me by sight, although he 
knew me well when I was a small child. 

Miss Dove wrote to her brother on the 1 7th May, 
1892: 

I do remember distinctly your saying to me in Liverpool, 
"three men have passed me exactly like Uncle E., he must 
be dead," and that we heard afterwards he had died that day, 
but I do not remember the date. 

The uncle, it appears, was found dead in his bed 
on that morning, having died in the course of the 
night. 

The grotesque character of the central incident 
in this narrative illustrates unmistakably the funda- 
mental character of hallucinations. The mere fact 
that the curious vision did not strike the nar- 
rator at the time as odd, and did not make any 
emotional impression, is in itself a proof that he 
was not fully master of his faculties. A like partial 
dissociation of consciousness may no doubt be pre- 
sumed to have existed in the case of Prince Duleep 
Singh's vision (No. 33) and in the case of Mr. 
Percy Kearne (No. 36). In order to appreciate 
their significance it is important to bear in mind 
that these apparitions are after all of the nature of 
dreams ; and that the critical faculties of the per- 
cipient may in some cases be altogether in abey- 
ance at the moment, however wide awake he may 



Telepathic Hallucinations 139 

be Immediately before and after the experience. 
In the case of post-hypnotic hallucinations or en- 
joined actions we are often able experimentally to 
determine the momentary recurrence of a state of 
dream consciousness.^ A painstaking critic of our 
evidence, Herr Edmund Parish, affirms the absolute 
Identity of the two classes of Impressions : '' there 
Is absolutely no distinction, either theoretical or 
practical, to be drawn between the sense deceptions 
of the dream state and those of waking conscious- 
ness." But the statement Is made for controversial 
purposes, and requires considerable modification. 
We need not now concern ourselves about theoretic 
distinctions between the two classes of phenomena. 
But for practical purposes, especially for the pur- 
pose of the present enquiry, there are two very Im- 
portant distinctions between waking hallucinations 
and the hallucinations of sleep which we call 
dreams. In the first place, the waking vision Is of 
much rarer occurrence, and much more Impressive, 
as the common experience of mankind, apart from 
the census. Is sufficient to show. In the second 
place, the waking experience Is likely to be more 
accurately remembered, not only, or even mainly, 
because of Its rarity and Impresslveness, but be- 
cause It has a fixed place In time and generally in 
space also. Whatever the actual state of the per- 
cipient's consciousness at the moment, the vision 

* In some of these experimental cases the subject is found completely to 
forget his own vision or action immediately afterwards. It would seem 
therefore that the state of dissociation in the case of spontaneous hallucina- 
tions is not as a rule very far-reaching. 



I40 Telepathic Hallucinations 

at any rate forms a link in the chain of waking 
experiences.^ 

In some cases the impression made upon the 
percipient, though fairly distinct, is not referred to 
any particular person, until Its coincidence with a 
death gives it retrospective significance. Thus a 
doctor tells us that about 7.30 on a December 
morning ''when just on the point of rising, I be- 
came conscious that a dark form, distinctly that of 
a female of medium height, was passing round the 
foot of the bed, and glided up to my side. When 
it reached me I raised myself in bed and felt with 
my hand, but it passed through the shadow." 
Later it appeared that the vision occurred within 
half an hour of the death of a patient ; and the per- 
cipient only then realised the likeness of the phan- 
tasmal figure to that of the deceased person. Of 
course a case of this kind has little evidential im- 
portance, even though the hallucination was unique 
In the percipient's experience. But we have other 
cases of this type.~ 

* See Parish, Hallucinations and Illusions, pp. 291, et seqq. Parish is a 
critic who has every intention of being impartial. In discussing telepathy 
he has summed up the Lehmann-Sidgwick controversy in favour of 
the Society for Psychical Research, or rather against the Danish experi- 
menters {pp. cit., p. 320). But in the vk'hole passage referred to he seems to 
have been misled by a. parti pris. Apart from the fact that we have some 
definite evidence, in the census tables, of the comparative rarity of waking 
hallucinations, and of the rate at which they tend to be forgotten, Parish 
himself recognises and insists upon the fact that the dissociation of con- 
sciousness, which is the chief cause of forgetfulness, is, in the case of what 
are commonly called waking hallucinations, less profound than in ordinary 
sleep. For a fuller criticism of the argument against telepathy in Parish's 
book, see Miss Johnson's review {Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xi., p. 163). 

"^ Proceedings, vol. x., p. 265. See especially the narrative of the 



Telepathic Hallucinations 141 

Hitherto it has been assumed that the ** agent" 
in these spontaneous cases is the dying man, or, 
generally speaking, the principal actor in the crisis 
which gives rise to the percipient's experience. 
But though this assumption is perhaps usually cor- 
rect, it is by no means a necessary corollary of the 
hypothesis of thought transference. And in many 
cases we have clear indications that the telepathic 
impulse may have originated in the minds of some 
of those cognisant of the death at the time. 

In the following narrative, for instance, the vis- 
ion represented the widow of the deceased, and 
appears to have coincided not with the death, 
which had taken place about one and one half hours 
previously, but with the subsequent conversation 
in which the thoughts of the survivors turned to- 
wards the percipient. The account Is written In 
the form of a letter to Mrs. Sidgwick, by a lady 
well known to her, who prefers to remain anony- 
mous. The percipient was In London at the time 
of the vision. J. W. was an old man who had been 
a ploughman, and afterwards kept the general shop 
and post-office In the remote country village where 
his death took place. 

No. 39. From Miss R.* 

March 7th, 1905. 

On the night of Saturday, March 4th, or rather, early morn- 
ing of March 5th [1905], I awoke and sat up to reach for 

Countess Eugenie Kapnist, given in my Apparitions and Thought Trans- 
ference, p. 252. 

• Journal, S. P. R., November, 1906. 



142 Telepathic Hallucinations 

something on the table beside my bed. The room was not 
dark, as the curtains were drawn back, and the blinds were 
up, and there are some strong lights in the street outside. As 
I sat up all seemed dark except that I saw a face for a second, 
and the same face a little farther to the right and a little lower 
down, also for a second. I am not sure whether I saw the 
two faces (which were exactly the same) at the same moment 
or one just after the other, but I think the sight of them 
overlapped. The faces were of Mrs. J. W., who lives at the 
village at home. I only saw her head, all else being swal- 
lowed in darkness. I noticed her black cap, without any 
white, which she always wears. Her face was not strongly 
illuminated, and wore her usual expression. There was no 
appearance of life or action about it. 

I was sufficiently struck by this to say to myself that I 
would write to you next morning about it, so that if there was 
any coincidence about it you would have evidence before- 
hand. I also turned over to the other side of my bed, took 
up the watch standing there and noticed the time by it was 
4.19 A.M. As this watch was 5 minutes fast by "Big Ben," 
the real time must have been just 4.14 a.m. Unluckily when 
I woke next morning the whole thing went clean out of my 
recollection, and I never thought of it again till this morning 
(March 7th), when I received a letter from Mrs. N. [wife of 
the clergyman at Miss R.'s country home], dated March 6th, 
who among other things wrote as follows : 

"Poor old J, W. at the village died yesterday morning 
early. He has been ill for a long time." 

Miss R. adds that In the absence of a written 
memorandum she could not determine with cer- 
tainty whether the date of her vision was on the 
morning of the 5th or 6th ; but from independent 
evidence she is " pretty confident " that it was the 
5th. It appears from Mrs. N.'s further letters that 
J. W. died at about 2.50 a.m. on the 5th, and that 



Telepathic Hallucinations 143 

between 4 and 5 a.m. on that date Mrs. J. W. and 
her daughter-in-law were talking much of Miss R. 
and of her great kindness to them : Mrs. J. W. 
adding that she would like to offer Miss R. her 
corner cupboard. 

In this case the "agency" of Mrs. J. W. would 
seem to be indicated by all the circumstances of 
the case. We have other instances in which a sim- 
ilar explanation is suggested. Thus Mrs. McAlpine 
saw a vision of her baby-nephew, six months old, at 
the time of his death. In this case it seems more 
natural to assume that the agent was some person 
tending the child, rather than the child itself.^ In 
another case a woman dreamt of the death of a 
child and the arrangements for the funeral ; the 
dream occurring more than twenty-four hours after 
the death.^ 

The following case of the apparition of a dog at 
about the time of death may, it is suggested, be 
similarly explained. 

No. 40. From Mrs. Bagot ° 

The Palace, Hampton Court, February, 1896. 
I was at Mentone in the spring of 1883, having left at home 
with the gardener a very favourite black and tan terrier, 
" Judy," I was sitting at table d'hote with my daughter and 
husband and suddenly saw Judy run across the room, and ex- 
claimed, *' Why, there 's Judy ! " There was no dog in the 
room or hotel, but I distinctly saw her, and when I went 

' Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. x., p. 281. See also the curious case related 
by Miss Hawkins-Dempster, Ibid., p. 261. 
^ See below, Case 42, Chapter X. 
3 Journal, S. P. R., April, 1896. 



144 Telepathic Hallucinations 

upstairs after table d'hote, told my other daughter, Mrs. 
Wodehouse, what I had seen. 

The next letter from home told me that Judy had gone out 
in the morning well, had apparently picked up some poison, as 
she was taken ill and died in half an hour ; but I cannot say 
whether it was on the same day that I had seen her. 

She was almost a human dog, so wonderfully intelligent and 
understanding, and devoted to me. 

J. W. Bagot. 

Mrs. Bagot's daughter, Mrs. Wodehouse, sent to 
us a copy of the entries in her diary under the dates 
March 24 and 28, 1883. 

56 Chester Square, S.W. 

i^Copy of Diary ^ March 24th, 1883. Easter Eve (Mentone). 
— " Drove with A. and picked anemones. Lovely bright day. 
But my head ached too much to enjoy it. Went to bed after 
tea and read Hettner's Renaissance. Mamma saw Judy's 
ghost at table d' hote ! " 

March 28th, Wednesday (Monte Carlo). — " Mamma and A. 
came over for the day. Judy dead, poor old dear." 

It will be seen that no exact correspondence is 
made out between the vision and the death; but it 
is clear that the apparition was seen before the 
news of the death was received. In this case it is 
not difficult to suppose that the agent may have 
been the person in whose charge the dog had been 
left. But to return for a moment to Case 39. It 
will be seen that Miss R. not only made no note of 
her experience but actually forgot all about it until 
she received the news of the death of J. W. As 
the vision had not been mentioned to any one we 
have no proof, beyond the percipient's word, for the 



Telepathic Hallucinations 145 

actual occurrence of the experience. That guaran- 
tee is no doubt in nearly all cases sufficient, so far 
as the narrator's good faith is concerned. In this 
particular case the details are related with such ob- 
vious care that there can, it is thought, be little 
doubt of their substantial accuracy. But Professor 
Royce of Harvard has suggested that in cases of 
this kind, when the impression is not noted down 
or mentioned beforehand, there may occur, on the 
receipt of the news of death or disaster, an instan- 
taneous and irresistible hallucination of memory, 
which may give rise to a belief in a previous dream 
or other warning presaging the facts. For this as- 
sumed hallucination of memory he suggests the 
name "pseudo-presentiment." Professor Royce 
can bring forward little support for his hypothesis 
of an instantaneous hallucination ; but an illusion of 
memory, magnifying and rearranging the details of 
a recent dream, seems in some cases not improb- 
able. In any case, however, we should not place 
much reliance upon an experience not communi- 
cated to others or even remembered until after the 
event which gave it significance.^ 

As already indicated, we have many cases in 
which two or three persons in company have a sim- 
ilar and simultaneous hallucinatory experience. For 
the sake of simplicity I have deferred giving in- 
stances of collective percipience of this kind until a 
later chapter. The case where percipients not in 
the same room have simultaneous impressions is 

* See Professor Royce's letter in Mind for April, 1888. 



14^ Telepathic Hallucinations 

much rarer. The following instance of this type 
may be quoted. The case, it will be seen, ex- 
ceeds the limit of ten years for the Interval between 
event and record which we had set before ourselves 
as a standard, but the narrative bears on the face of 
it the Impress of accuracy. 

No. 41. From the Rev. Charles L. Tweedale, F. R. A. S.' 

Weston Vicarage, nr. Otley, Yorkshire, 

July 24th, 1906. 

On the night of January loth, 1879, I had retired early to 
rest. I awoke out of my first sleep to find the moon shining 
into my room. As I awoke my eyes were directed towards 
the panels of a cupboard, or wardrobe, built into the east wall 
of my room, and situated in the north-east corner. I watched 
the moonlight on the panels. As I gazed I suddenly saw a 
face form on the panels of the cupboard or wardrobe. Indis- 
tinct at first, it gradually became clearer until it was perfectly 
distinct as in life, when I saw the face of my grandmother. 
What particularly struck me at the moment and burnt itself 
into my recollection was the fact that the face wore an old- 
fashioned frilled or goffered cap. I gazed at it for a few 
seconds, during which it was as plain as the living face, when 
it faded gradually into the moonlight and was gone. I was 
not alarmed, but, thinking that I had been deceived by the 
moonlight and that it was an illusion, I turned over and went 
off to sleep again. In the morning when at breakfast I 
began telling the experience of the night to my parents. I 
had got well into my story, when, to my surprise, my father 
suddenly sprang up from his seat at the table and leaving his 
food almost untouched hurriedly left the room. As he walked 
towards the door I gazed after him in amazement, saying to 
mother, " Whatever is the matter with father ? " She raised 
her hand to enjoin silence. When the door had closed I 
again repeated my question. She replied, " Well, Charles, it 

' Journal, S. P. R., November, 1906, 



Telepathic Hallucinations 147 

is the strangest thing I ever heard of. but when I awoke this 
morning your father informed me that he was awakened in the 
night and saw his mother standing by his bedside, and that 
when he raised himself to speak to her she glided away." 
This scene and conversation took place at about 8.30 a.m. on 
the morning of January nth. Before noon we received a 
telegram announcing the death of my father's mother during 
the night. 

We found that the matter did not end here, for my father 
was afterwards informed by his sister that she also had seen 
the apparition of her mother standing at the foot of her bed. 

Thus, this remarkable apparition was manifested to three 
persons independently. My apartment, in which I saw the vis- 
ion, was at the other side of the house to that occupied by 
my parents, and was entirely separate and apart from their 
room, while my father's sister was nearly 20 miles away at 
Heckmondwike. 

Mr. Tweedale's experience and that of his father 
occurred at about 2 a.m. ; the death took place at 
12.15 ^'^' The appearance to Mr. Tweedale's 
aunt, Mrs. Hodgson, took place eighteen hours 
after the death, news of which had been intention- 
ally kept from the percipient on account of her seri- 
ous illness. Mr. Hodgson has given us an account 
of this vision. 

Mrs. Tweedale writes : 

Victor Place, Crawshawbooth, nr. Rawtenstall, Lancashire, 

June 22d, 1906. 

I have carefully read my son's account of the strange ap- 
pearance to him and my late husband, Dr. Tweedale. I per- 
fectly well remember the matter, my son telling us of what he 
had seen and my husband telling me of the apparition to him, 
also the telegram informing us of the death during the night. 



148 Telepathic Hallucinations 

I distinctly remember my husband also being informed by 
his sister of the appearance to her. 

(Signed) Mary Tweedale. 

It should be added that Mr. Tweedale sees in 
the fact that the vision appeared to three persons 
independently after the death had occurred, a proof 
that the personality survives death. 

It need scarcely be said that the facts are suscep- 
tible of other explanations. The apparitions may, 
as already suggested, have been due to a telepathic 
impulse from the mind of the survivors. Or, in the 
case of Mr. Tweedale and his father, we may sup- 
pose that the impulse actually originated with the 
dying woman, but that it remained latent in the 
subconsciousness of the percipients for some two 
hours before a favourable opportunity occurred for 
its emergence into the upper consciousness. We 
have evidence in the case of dreams, crystal visions, 
and in various hypnotic cases, that an impression 
may thus He latent for some hours before it attains 
full realisation. 



CHAPTER VII 

POLTERGEISTS 

VISITATIONS of raps and loud noises, accom- 
panied by the throwing of stones, the ringing 
of bells, and other disturbances of an inexplicable 
kind, are from time to time reported by the daily 
papers as occurring in country villages, and, more 
rarely, in busy thoroughfares in our large towns. 
The squire, the parson, and the police constable 
are called in to investigate, and depart as a rule no 
wiser than when they came. Mysterious disturb- 
ances of the kind have been reported for many 
centuries. Mr. Lang has cited a case occurring as 
early as 856 a.d.^ The phenomena, according to 
the same authority, have as wide a range in space 
as in time : they extend, literally, from China 
to Peru ; they are found amongst Eskimos, Red 
Indians, and Malayans, as well as throughout 
Europe, and conform in most cases to the same 
general type. Amongst the most interesting cases 
recorded in our own literature may be mentioned 
the Drummer of Tedworth (1661) of which an 
account is given by Glanvil in Sadducismus Tri- 
umphatus; the disturbances at Epworth Parsonage, 

* Cock Lane and Common Sense, p. 170. 

149 



1 50 Poltergeists 

the birthplace of John Wesley (i 716-7) ; the Cock 
Lane Ghost (1762). 

In a small and now rare book, called Bealings 
Bells, published In 1841 by Major Moor, F. R. S., 
for sale at a church bazaar, accounts are given, 
mostly at first hand, of some twenty cases of the 
kind. The disturbances described in Bealings Bells 
consisted generally of bell ringing, but they in- 
cluded also noises of other kinds, movements of 
furniture, throwing of crockery and small objects. 
One of the most characteristic disturbances which 
is reported in the Tedworth and Epworth cases, 
and formed the chief manifestation In the case of 
the Cock Lane Ghost, Is the occurrence of raps on 
the woodwork of the bedstead, or, as In the Ted- 
worth case, scratches as If made by nails on a 
bolster. In all cases the bedstead In the neighbour- 
hood of which the noises occurred was occupied 
by a child, or children, to whom other circumstances 
point as the centre of the disturbance. 

These ** Poltergeist " disturbances, as they have 
been named, are of some historical importance, as 
It is to an outbreak of this kind in America that 
the beginning of the movement of modern Spirit- 
ualism may be traced. A farmer named John Fox 
occupied a frame house in Hydesville, a small ham- 
let In New York State. One night in March, 1848, 
raps were heard as if proceeding from the bedstead 
In which his two young daughters, Margaretta and 
Katie, were sleeping. The disturbance was re- 
peated night after night and the neighbours crowded 



Poltergeists 151 

in to listen. It was soon found that the raps, of 
which no one could discover the cause, would an- 
swer questions addressed to them, and it was grad- 
ually elicited by these means that the demonstration 
was produced by the spirit of a murdered pedlar. 
The marvel spread throughout the neighbouring 
townships. Other ** mediums " were soon discov- 
ered, through whose agency the spirits were en- 
abled to manifest their presence by raps. Gradually 
the spirits learnt to move tables and chairs, to play 
musical instruments, and do other things, such as 
the Poltergeist had been wont to do in the past. 
In a few years Spiritualism, thus incubated in 
the little country village of Hydesville, spread 
its wings and encompassed half the globe. Its 
growth in these early years was much encouraged 
by other outbreaks of the usual Poltergeist type, 
especially those in Stratford, Connecticut, in 1850, 
and in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1851, full accounts of 
which are given in the Spiritualistic journals of the 
time. 

To attain, therefore, a clear understanding of 
the physical phenomena presented to us by Spirit- 
ualist mediums, some of which are dealt with in the 
next chapter, it is essential to study the Poltergeist 
manifestations which are their lineal progenitors. 
The Poltergeist is, so to speak, the /era natures of 
Spiritualism. 

Recently Mr. Andrew Lang has obtained, through 
the kindness of the Marquis d' Eguilles, copies of 
the official records of a trial in which a Poltergeist 



152 Poltergeists 

case formed the subject of enquiry. The case is a 
fairly typical one, and will serve to illustrate the 
nature of the phenomena usually exhibited. In 
January, 1851, Thorel, a shepherd, summoned M. 
Tinel, Cure of Cideville, for libel. The Cure had, 
according to the plaintiff, accused him of sorcery, 
and had procured his dismissal from his employ- 
ment. The defendant pleaded that he had only 
charged Thorel with ** arrogating to himself the 
quality of sorcerer." It was shown by the evidence 
of many witnesses that for some weeks disturbances 
of an inexplicable character had plagued the Cure's 
house. M. Tinel kept two pupils, who gave evi- 
dence as follows : Gustave Lemonnier, the younger 
of the pupils, aged twelve, said that raps began when 
he was alone, on November 26th, and continued. 
He saw knives, blacking-brushes, a roasting spit, 
and M. Tinel's breviary leave their places and go 
through the window-panes. All sorts of objects 
flew about. He was struck in the face by a shoe, 
a candlestick, and by a black hand which after- 
wards disappeared up the chimney. A sort of 
human shape, dressed in a blouse, which appeared 
to be a spectre, followed him about for a whole 
fortniofht. We learn from another witness that the 
child said that this spectre was only fifteen inches 
high. Once an invisible force pulled him by the 
leg, his comrade sprinkled some holy water, and the 
force let go; then a child's voice was heard crying, 
" Pardon, mercy." Notwithstanding all these dis- 
quieting events he did not ask to be allowed to 



Poltergeists 153 

go home. Meeting Thorel, when with Tinel, he 
recognised in Thorel the spectre in the blouse. 

Bunel, aged fourteen, the other pupil, corrobor- 
ated Lemonnier, who, he said, had " lost conscious- 
ness" and **had a nervous attack" after meeting 
Thorel. The witness showed a black eye, caused 
by a stamping iron which flew in his face. He 
attested many eccentric movements of objects. 

It was given in evidence further that Thorel had 
boasted of his power as a sorcerer, that he had used 
threats against M. Tinel, and that on being charged 
by the Cure with being the cause of the disturb- 
ance, Thorel had knelt to beg forgiveness of the 
younger boy, and had been struck with a stick by 
M. Tinel. 

Most of the witnesses called in the case had only 
hearsay evidence to give ; or could speak only of 
the occurrence of raps and thumps in the presence 
of the two boys, which they were satisfied the boys 
could not have produced. Two gendarmes had 
counted twenty-three broken panes of glass ; but 
after spending an hour or two at the Presbytery 
had not seen or heard anything out of the way. 
But Cheval, the Mayor of the Commune, testified to 
having seen the tongs and shovel at the Presbytery 
** leave the hearth and go into the middle of the 
room." They were put back, and rushed out again. 
"My eyes were fixed on them to see what moved 
them, but I saw nothing at all." He also saw a 
'* stocking dart like a thunderbolt from beside the 
bed on which the children wei'e sleeping, to the 



154 Poltergeists 

opposite end of the room." Lying in bed with the 
boys, his hands on their hands, and his feet on 
their feet, he " saw the coverlet dart away from 
the bed." M. Leroux, the Cure of Saussay, aged 
thirty, deposed : 

I have to add that when at the Presbytery of Cideville, I 
saw things which I have been unable to explain to myself. I 
saw a hammer, moved by some invisible force, leave the spot 
where it lay and fall in the middle of the room without mak- 
ing more noise than if a hand had gently laid it down; a piece 
of bread lying on the table darted under the table ; and we 
being placed as we were, it was impossible that any of us 
could have thrown it in that way. I also saw, after the Cur6 
of Cideville and I had shaved, all the things we had used for 
the purpose placed as if by hand on the floor ; the young pen- 
sionnaire of M. Tinel having called our attention to this, M. 
Tinel and I went upstairs to assure ourselves of the fact. 
Perhaps the child had had time to do this ; but on coming 
away again, we had scarcely descended six steps of the stairs 
when the child told us that everything had been put back in 
its place. I went back alone and found everything was, in 
fact, in its place, with the exception of the mirror, and I am 
certain that the child could not have put everything back in 
its place in that way in so short a time. It seems to me inex- 
plicable. Since that I have heard noises at the Presbytery at 
Cideville. I took every precaution in listening to them, even 
placing myself under the table to make sure that the children 
could do nothing, and yet I heard noises, which seemed to me, 
however, to come more especially from the wainscot. 

The Marquis de Mirville, a well-known Spiritual- 
ist, who published an account of the case in a con- 
temporary pamphlet, also gave his evidence. He 
testified that the raps showed intelligence and gave 
correct answers to several questions which he asked 



Poltergeists 155 

on personal matters — his exact age, the number of 
letters in the names of his children and in the name 
of his house and commune. Further, the raps ex- 
ecuted correctly Rossini's Stabat Mater and several 
popular tunes. The only physical phenomenon 
which M. de Mirville witnessed he described as 
follows : 

One of the children said to me, " Look, Sir, look at this 
desk knocking against the other " ; but as the child was in 
front of the desk I did not attach much importance to this 
fact, — not that I believed him to be the cause of it. 

Madame de Saint Victor, aged fifty-six, said that 
she had heard the Angelus and one or two popular 
tunes rapped correctly. Further, 

after Vespers, when I was at the Presbytery of Cideville 
standing quite apart from the other people there, I felt an in- 
visible force seize me by the mantle and give me a vigorous 
shake. The same day also I saw three persons sitting on a 
small table in the Presbytery and it moved along the floor in 
spite of the efforts of two people to hold it back. Several 
people were there, amongst others m.y femme de chambre^ but 
I cannot precisely say who the others were. Another day I 
saw the child sitting on a chair with his feet off the ground 
and his back not leaning on the chairback, yet the chair 
rocked with a movement which the child could not have given 
it, ending with the chair falling in one direction and the boy 
in another. The child was much frightened at this. A week 
ago when I was alone with the children I saw the two desks 
at which they were working fall over and the table on the top 
of them. The same day I took the children some St. Benoist 
medals in which I had faith, and every time the medals were 
placed on the desks not the least sound was produced there, 
the noise then being heard behind me in the wall cupboard ; 
but as soon as the medals were withdrawn from the desks the 



15^ Poltergeists 

noise was heard again in the desks. The same day the noise 
rapped out the tune of Mattre Corbeau, and on my remarking, 
*' Do you know nothing but that, then ?" it sang the air of Au 
clair de la lune, and that of /'at du bon Tabac. Yesterday, 
again, I saw a candlestick leave the chimneypiece in the 
kitchen and go and hit the back of my femmg de chambrCy and 
a key lying on the table struck the child's ear. I must say that 
I cannot tell precisely where the key was, as I did not see it 
start on its flight, but only saw it arrive. I was not fright- 
ened, only surprised. My son was with me when I heard the 
Angelus as well as the two children and the Cure, but during 
the other airs I was alone with the children. It was not pos- 
sible for the children to do these things ; I watched their feet 
and their hands, and could see all their movements. I think 
the shepherd Thorel could not have done them unless he had 
made a compact with the devil ; for it seemed to me there was 
something diabolical in it all. 

M. Robert de St. Victor, son of the last witness, 
testified that he had heard the tunes rapped out 
He adds : 

A week ago I went again to the Presbytery, and was alone 
with the children and the old servant maid ; I placed one of 
the children in each of the windows of the room upstairs, I 
being outside, but in a position to observe all their movements 
in the position they were placed in ; besides, they could not 
have moved much without risk of falling; and I then heard 
raps struck in the room, similar to those of a mallet. I went 
up to the room, and I saw one of the children's desks coming 
towards me, with no visible force to push it ; however, I did 
not see it at the moment of its starting. I am convinced that 
the children had nothing to do with this, since they were still 
standing in the windows. Being one day at the Presbytery 
with the Mayor, I heard several loud blows such as the 
children could not have produced. I put my hand and 
ear against the wainscot, and very distinctly felt the vibra- 
tions and the place where the blows were struck. 



Poltergeists 157 

M. Bouffay had heard raps and noises **in those 
rooms only where the children were." He adds : 

I also saw, both upstairs and downstairs, the perfectly iso- 
lated table move without any force that I could see to cause 
the movement. On the second visit I scarcely saw any- 
thing. On the third visit I saw pretty much the same things 
as on the first. I noticed that the children were perfectly 
motionless when the sound was produced, so could not have 
made it themselves. I heard it when the Cure was absent 
from the Presbytery as well as in his presence. It was impossi- 
ble that either he or the children should have had anything 
to do with the noise, because it was too loud. 

Further, the witness said that when he returned 
with M. Tinel and the children from the house of 
one of the^inhabitants of the commune, where they 
had slept on account of the noises at the Presby- 
tery, just as the children were going up to their 
room to ascertain if all was at an end, he saw a 
phantom-like vapour go with great rapidity through 
the kitchen door towards the room where the 
children were. 

M. Breard, when at breakfast with MM. Bouffay 
and Tinel, had heard an alarming knock on the 
floor beneath the table, and was certain that neither 
the children nor the Cure could have caused it. 

Dufour, a postman, saw a table move without 
any one touching it. Lecontre, a carpenter, testi- 
fied to a stone being mysteriously thrown. Le- 
seigneur, eighteen years of age, a farmer, "saw a 
hammer impelled by some occult force start from 
the top of the table and fly at the window, break- 



1 58 Poltergeists 

ing two panes. I also saw a shoe leave the pupil's 
foot and go and break a pane." He saw several 
other movements of objects, and was certain that 
neither of the pupils caused them. 

Practically all the witnesses were confident that 
the movements and noises could not have been 
caused by the children or by M. Tinel. The only 
hint of a normal explanation which appears, in 
some eighty typewritten pages of evidence, is a 
statement by one or two of the witnesses that they 
had heard a M. Fontaine call out from the window 
that he had caught the younger boy in the act of 
cheating. Now Maitre Fontaine, apparently the 
same person, was the counsel for the plaintiff, and 
was presumably precluded from giving evidence in 
his own person. He cross-examined Lemonnier, 
however, on the incident of the alleged detection, 
but the boy seems to have stood the examination 
with great self-possession, and made no damaging 
admissions. On Maitre Fontaine's attempting to 
cross-examine the elder boy, Bunel, to similar 
effect, the Judge disallowed the questions as being 
irrelevant and contrary to the dignity of justice. 
The Court, in fact, seems to have been not very 
wise, perhaps not quite impartial, and certainly un- 
duly sensitive as to its own dignity. In the sum- 
ming up of the case the Judge found that "the 
most clear result of all the evidence is that the 
cause [of the disturbances] remains unknown." 
Thorel was nonsuited, on the ground that, if he 
had not done the things himself, he had said that 



Poltergeists 159 

he had, and had, further, professed contrition for 
his offence.^ 

The case is an interesting one from several 
points of view. M. Tinel and his brother priests, 
and the Catholic witnesses generally, seem to have 
been quite satisfied of the diabolical nature of the 
visitation. Thorel, it is clear, brought his fate 
upon himself. The evidence leaves no doubt that 
he had freely boasted of his powers as a sorcerer ; 
and that he had actually fallen on his knees and 
begged pardon of the Cure and of the child Le- 
monnier. Perhaps Thorel believed In his own 
powers. A curious Illustration Is given of the suc- 
cess of a suggestion made by him. Further, it 
appears from the evidence of Cheval, the Mayor, 
that Thorel was somehow associated with one 
Gosselin, a very learned man, who had presumed 
to visit a sick person with the view of curing him, 
and had been denounced by the Cure Tinel, and 
put In prison for his pains. Naturally Gosselin 
came out of prison vowing vengeance on the Cure. 

The reference to witchcraft Is exceptional 
amongst latter-day Poltergeists, at any rate in this 
country. But In this respect the CIdeville case 
resembles the case of the Drummer of Tedworth 
already referred to, and other earlier narratives. 
Mr. Lang cites a case occurring In Lincolnshire in 

' A copy of the court records is in the possession of the Society for Psy- 
chical Research. Mr. Lang gives a summary of the case in Proceedings, S. 
P. R., vol. xviii., pp. 454-463, An account of the case is given by R. 
Dale Owen in his Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World. 



i6o Poltergeists 

1867, in which a woman laid a spell upon the serv- 
ant girl of a rival witch, and caused her to make 
knockings and move the furniture.^ It is probable, 
in fact, that the idea of being bewitched, acting 
upon an hysterical temperament, may in many cases 
prove the efficient cause of disturbances. 

But in other respects the Cideville case is, as 
said, a fairly typical one. It will be observed, first, 
that all the disturbances occurred in the presence 
of the two children ; many of them in their im- 
mediate neighbourhood. Further, it appears, even 
by the description of the witnesses, that many of 
the things could have been done by the children in 
a normal manner. In most other instances the 
margin between what was possible and what, in 
the view of the witnesses, was not possible for the 
children to have accomplished, was very narrow. 
M. Leroux is satisfied that the child could not 
have replaced the toilet articles in so short a time. 
Madame de St. Victor is satisfied that the child 
could not have rocked the chair. Perhaps M. 
Robert de St. Victor had been a good child and 
had never played tricks with chairs. M. Bouffay 
is certain that the children could not have made 
the noise which he heard, because it was too 
loud. 

But there remain certain things which cannot be 
so easily explained ; such as the moving tongs and 
shovel testified to by Cheval, the flying hammer 

• Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xvii., p. 320. 



Poltergeists i6i 

witnessed by M. Leroux and by Leseigneur, or the 
candlestick which Madame de St. Victor watched 
in its flight. 

Now the disturbances began at the end of No- 
vember, 1850, and they ended on the 15th Feb- 
ruary, 185 1, so that the occurrences were still 
fresh in the memory of the witnesses. More than 
one of the most inexplicable events are testified to 
by witnesses who, if strongly predisposed to belief 
in the marvellous, were, it is to be presumed, fairly 
well educated. Their testimony is given with some 
care, and there can be no doubt that these witnesses 
honestly believed that they had seen and heard 
things inexplicable by natural causes. It seems 
scarcely credible that the two little boys should 
have done the things themselves without detection 
(save in one doubtful case) and apparently without 
suspicion. The performance, it is to be remem- 
bered, lasted for some weeks ; and the actors 
throughout the time were constantly called upon 
to play their parts with variations before an 
interested and not wholly uncritical audience. 

The explanation in fact is not to be reached from 
the examination of any single case, least of all a 
case where personal enquiry and interrogation of 
the witnesses are no longer possible. But these 
outbreaks, as said, are numerous and monotonously 
similar in their general features. The person who 
is the centre of the disturbance, and in whose ab- 
sence nothing takes place, is generally a child, boy 
or girl ; more rarely a young servant maid. The 



1 62 Poltergeists 

phenomena, again, move in the same groove. Many 
of them, as described, are quite inexplicable ; es- 
pecially is this true of the movements of objects, 
which are frequently spoken of as hovering, float- 
ing, or being gently wafted by an invisible agency. 
Members of the Society for Psychical Research have 
from time to time investigated on the spot a large 
number of these occurrences. Sometimes the dis- 
turbances had ceased before the investigator had 
actually arrived on the scene, and it has been pos- 
sible only to interrogate the witnesses and examine 
the theatre of the display. But in one or two in- 
stances we have actually been present during 
the performance, and have detected trickery on the 
part of the children ; in other cases trickery has 
been detected at the time by others ; sometimes the 
child has subsequently confessed to trickery. It 
would not be fair, on the sole ground that trickery 
has been proved to account for some of the move- 
ments and noises in certain cases, to infer that 
trickery is the explanation of all the disturbances 
in all cases. The real justification for that conclu- 
sion can only be fully appreciated after a careful 
study and comparison of the records. Space would 
not permit of the proof being stated here at 
adequate length. But let us take, as an illustra- 
tion merely, the evidence just quoted in the Cide- 
ville case. On a superficial reading it would seem 
as if the marvels recounted could not be due to the 
trickery of a couple of children. But we may see 
from the account given by the untrained observer 



Poltergeists 163 

of a conjuring trick how widely the thing described 
may differ from the thing done. And it is to be 
noted, in the Cideville case, that very few details 
are given. When, for instance, Madame de St. 
Victor saw a candlestick leave the chimneypiece 
and hit the femme de chambre, we want to know 
what was her own position with reference to the 
chimneypiece, what was the position of the two 
children, the approximate distance of the children, 
the femme de chambre, and herself from the candle- 
stick, and so on. The account implies that she 
actually saw the candlestick at rest, and then saw it 
change its position of rest for motion through the 
air. Did she really see this? Was she really 
watching the candlestick continuously, or did she 
merely remember to have seen it at one moment at 
rest, and, after a short interval, in motion through 
the air? It is difficult, without long training, to 
realise how small is the part played in general per- 
ception by actual sensation, especially in the case 
of retinal impressions, and how largely those retinal 
impressions are interpreted and supplemented by 
immediate and unconscious inference. When we 
are dealing with familiar matters the inference is 
generally correct ; but the conjuror induces us to 
adopt a wrong inference — ^we " see " in a conjuring 
trick something which does not really take place. 

Again, when, as happens in many cases, the ac- 
count is not written down until some time after the 
events, errors of memory may distort the facts. 
Both kinds of error are admirably illustrated in Mr. 



1 64 Poltergeists 

Hodgson's comments on the experiments in slate- 
writing made with Eglinton and Davey discussed 
in the next chapter. That such errors, of observa- 
tion or of memory, are responsible for a great part 
at any rate of the marvels reported in Poltergeist 
cases, we can often find out by comparison of the 
accounts given by different witnesses of the same 
incident, or by the same witness at different times ; 
or, more generally, by a comparison of the evidence 
given by educated and uneducated witnesses. 

The following narrative, which we owe to Mr. 
W. G. Grottendieck, of Dordrecht, will serve to 
illustrate the two main sources of error above re- 
ferred to. It is the more valuable as an illustration 
because Mr. Grottendieck is a particularly scrupu- 
lous and level-headed witness, and apparently a close 
observer. He writes as follows : 

Dordrecht, January 27th, 1906. 
... It was in September, 1903, that the following abnormal 
fact occurred to me. Every detail of it has been examined 
by me very carefully. I had been on a long journey through 
the jungle of Palembang and Djambi (Sumatra) with a gang 
of fifty Javanese coolies for exploring purposes. Coming back 
from the long trip, I found that my home had been occupied 
by somebody else and I had to put up my bed in another 
house that was not yet ready, and had just been erected from 
wooden poles and lalang or kadjatig. The roof was formed 
of great dry leaves of a kind called " kadjang " in Palembang. 
These great leaves are arranged one overlapping the other. 
In this way it is very easy to form a roof if it is only for a 
temporary house. This house was situated pretty far away 
from the bore-places belonging to the oil company, in whose 
service I was working. 



Poltergeists 165 

I put my bullsack and mosquito curtain on the wooden floor 
and soon fell asleep. At about one o'clock at night I half 
awoke, hearing something fall near my head outside the mos- 
quito curtain on the floor. After a couple of minutes I com- 
pletely awoke and turned my head around to see what was 
falling down on the floor. They were black stones from one 
eighth to three quarters of an inch long. I got out of the 
curtain and turned up the kerosene lamp, that was standing 
on the floor at the foot of my bed. I saw then that the stones 
were falling through the roof in a parabolic line. They fell 
on the floor close to my head-pillow. I went out and awoke 
the boy (a Malay-Palembang coolie) who was sleeping on the 
floor in the next room. I told him to go outside and to ex- 
amine the jungle up to a certain distance. He did so whilst I 
lighted up the jungle a little by means of a small " ever-ready" 
electric lantern. At the same time that my boy was outside 
the stones did not stop falling. My boy came in again, and I 
told him to search the kitchen to see if anybody could be 
there. He went to the kitchen and I went inside the room 
again to watch the stones falling down. I knelt down near 
[the head of my bed] and tried to catch the stones while they 
were falling through the air towards me, but I could never 
catch them ; // seemed to me that they changed their direction in 
the air as soon as I tried to get hold of them. I could not catch 
any of them before they fell on the floor. Then I climbed up 
[the partition wall between my room and the boy's] and ex- 
amined [the roof just above it from which] the stones were 
flying. They came right through the ** kadjang," but there 
were no holes in the kadjang. When I tried to catch them 
there at the very spot of coming out, I also failed. 

When I came down, my boy had returned from the kitchen 
and told me there was nobody. But I still thought that some- 
body might be playing a practical joke, so I took my Mauser 
rifle and fired five sharp cartridges into the jungle from [the 
window of the boy's room]. But the stones, far from stopping, 
fell even more abundantly after my shots than before. 

After this shooting the boy became fully awake (it seemed 



1 66 Poltergeists 

to me that he had been dozing all the time before), and he 
looked inside the room. When he saw the stones fall down, 
he told me it was " Satan " who did that, and he was so greatly 
scared that he ran away in the pitch-dark night. After he 
had run away the stones ceased to fall, and I never saw the 
boy back again. I did not notice anything particular about 
the stones except that they were warmer than they would 
have been under ordinary circumstances. 

In a later letter dated ist February, 1906, Mr. 
Grottendieck adds : 

(3) The boy certainly did not do it, because at the same 
time that I bent over him, while he was sleeping on the floor, 
to awake him, there fell a couple of stones. . . . 

(8) They fell rather slowly. Now, supposing that somebody 
might by trickery have forced them through the roof, or 
supposing they had not come through it at all, — even then 
there would remain something mysterious about it, because it 
seemed to me that they were hovering through the air ; they 
described a parabolic line and then came down with a bang 
on the floor.' 

Mr. Grottendieck explains that the stones, which 
have unfortunately been lost, were black and pol- 
ished, but not crystalline, more like anthracite, 
but not with such sharp edges. They were light 
like anthracite. 

He adds, in a letter dated February 13, 1906 : 

I hope that my plan is plain enough to give you an idea of 
the way in which I watched the stones coming through the 
roof. I was inside the room, climbed up along the framework 
to the top of the wall, held on with one hand to the frame- 
work, and tried to catch the stones with the other hand, at the 
same time seeing the boy lying down sleeping outside (in the 

> Journal, S. P. R., May, 1906. 



Poltergeists 167 

other room) on the floor behind the door, the space being lit 
up by means of a lamp in his room. The construction of the 
house was such that it was impossible to throw the stones 
through the open space from outside. 

I wrote before that it seemed to me that the boy had been 
dozing all the time after I awoke him. 1 got that impression 
because his movements seemed to me abnormally slow ; his 
rising up, his walking around, and everything seemed extra- 
ordinarily slow. These movements gave me the same strange 
impression as the slowly falling stones. 

When I think over this last fact (for I remember very well 
the strange impression the slowly moving boy made on me) I 
feel now inclined to suggest the hypothesis that there might 
have been something abnormal in my own condition at the 
time. For having read in the Proceedings about hallucina- 
tions, I dare not state any more that the stones in reality 
moved slowly ; it might have been on account of some condi- 
tion of my own sensory organs that it seemed to me that they 
did, though at that time I was not in the least interested in 
the question of hallucinations or of spiritism. I am afraid 
that the whole thing will ever remain a puzzle to me. 

Now, there is one serious discrepancy in this 
account. According to his original version Mr. 
Grottendieck's first step, after being awakened by 
the falling stones, was to go into the next room, 
and wake up the boy. The boy then searched the 
jungle, and on his return was told to search the 
kitchen. Mr. Grottendieck climbed the partition 
whilst the boy was searching the kitchen. But in 
his later letter he describes seeing the boy asleep 
whilst he is himself on the partition, trying to catch 
the stones as they fall. One of these two accounts 
then — we cannot tell which — ^^must be inaccurate in 
regard to the important detail of the boy's position 



1 68 Poltergeists 

at the time. If one is inaccurate, both may be. 
Further, if it is only by the accident of there being 
two accounts that this inaccuracy has become mani- 
fest, we are entitled to infer that there are probably 
other inaccuracies which happen not to have been 
manifested.^ 

Another class of error is illustrated by Mr. Grot- 
tendieck's statement that he "saw quite distinctly 
that the stones came right through the kadjang." ^ 
As Mr. E. T. Dixon has pointed out in his com- 
ments on the case, '* no retinal image or succession 
of retinal images could have recorded the passage 
of stones through the kadjang ; he can only have 
(unconsciously) inferred that the stones passed 
through from the fact that he was not aware of any 
retinal image representing them coming up to the 
ceiling from the boy's hand (or wherever they did 
come from)." 

It is probable that the appearance of the stones 
falling slowly is also, as Mr. Grottendleck himself 
suggests, due to a sensory fallacy of another kind. 
This appearance Is very commonly reported of the 
objects seen to move through the air In Poltergeist 
cases. Such an appearance would be caused by 

• In a final letter, published in the Journal for July, igo6, Mr. Grotten- 
dieck, in reference to the discrepancy between his two accounts, suggests 
" that the boy must have returned from the kitchen during the time that I 
was climbing up the partition, and that he must have put himself down on 
the floor again to continue his sleep." But this supposition seems incon- 
sistent with the statement in the original account that when Mr. Grotten- 
dieck came down from the partition the boy " had returned from the kitchen 
and told him there was nobody." 

' The quotation is from the letter of the ist February. 



Poltergeists 169 

any temporary aberration in the estimation of time ; 
and we know that such erroneous estimates occur 
in delirium, and under the influence of haschlsh, 
and other drugs/ and apparently In the partial dis- 
sociation of consciousness which accompanies many 
waking hallucinations.^ 

It should be added that the hallucinations de- 
scribed by the child Lemonnler may perhaps have 
been genuine. The young persons round whom 
these disturbances occur frequently describe halluci- 
natory figures seen by them, and there is evidence, 
in many of the cases investigated by or reported to 
the Society, of hysteria or marked abnormality of 
one kind or another. 

It is only by a fortunate accident that we are able, 
here and there, to analyse the evidence for the 
spontaneous phenomena of the Poltergeist, and 
demonstrate Its untrustworthlness. But In the next 
chapter we shall see how little to be trusted are the 
statements of competent witnesses as to phenomena 

' See, e,g., the account given by Mr. Ernest Dunbar of the influence of 
haschish on himself, Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xix,, p. 69. 

^See Parish, Hallucinations and Illusions. The case has been quoted 
at length for its psychological interest. It only remains to add that the 
heathen Malay in Ithe case was probably as innocent as the Poltergeist 
himself. Mr. H. N.jRidley, F. R. S., of the Botanical Gardens, Singapore, 
suggests that the '* stones" which fell may have been seeds of some fruit 
dropped from the kadjang roof by fruit-bats. The description of the stones 
themselves, the manner of their falling, and the fact that they felt warmer 
than real stones would in similar circumstances, are all consistent with this 
explanation. So also is the fact, recorded in Mr. Grottendieck's letter of 
the 1st February, that " the same thing happened to me about a week before; 
but on that occasion I was standing outside in the open air near a tree in 
the jungle, and as it was impossible to control it that time (it might have 
been a monkey that did it) I did not pay much attention to it." 



1 70 Poltergeists 

occurring in their presence under conditions which 
are certainly more favourable for observation than 
those obtaining in the Poltergeist disturbances.' 

' For an analysis of the evidence in some of the cases investigated by the 
Society, see my article on Poltergeists in Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xii., 
pp. 45-115. Also my Modern Spiritualism, vol. i., pp. 25-43. See also 
Mr. Lang's Cock Lane and Common Sense, his articles in Proceedings, S. P. 
R., vol. xvii,, p. 305, and elsewhere. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SPIRITUALISM 

/^NE of the chief objects which the Society for 
^-^ Psychical Research set before itself was the 
investigation of the physical phenomena of Spirit- 
ualism. The question seemed one of considerable 
importance, because from the belief in these phe- 
nomena as due to spiritual agency there had sprung 
up a quasi-religious movement of an international 
character which claimed at one period to number 
its adherents by millions. Moreover, apart from 
the credulous and unthinking majority, there was a 
small body of men whose opinions and testimony in 
any matter could not be lightly disregarded, who 
believed in and testified of their own experience to 
things which seemed, and perhaps still seem, inex- 
plicable by any known cause. It was not easy to 
dismiss the whole subject as unworthy of investiga- 
tion. The explanation of the facts recorded by Sir 
William Crookes and others does not lie on the 
surface. It may be that these facts will ultimately 
find their explanation in causes neither remote nor 
unfamiliar. But certainly no one at that time, and 
perhaps no one now, is in a position to affirm, with 
such certainty as we bring to the other affairs of 

171 



172 Spiritualism 

life, what the explanation may be. And whatever 
may be thought of the phenomena, it remained a 
palpable fact that there were tens and perhaps even 
hundreds of thousands in this and other civilised 
countries,^ who had adopted a particular interpreta- 
tion of these phenomena ; that their conduct was 
influenced, their lives shaped, their aspirations de- 
termined, by that interpretation. The extraordinary 
growth of the movement, the number of its ad- 
herents, and their fidelity through evil and good 
report, made Spiritualism an important historical 
fact. If the beliefs and ideas of this large body of 
men and women were indeed based on fraud and de- 
lusion, it became a matter of some social importance 
to expose the deception. And it was clear that 
nothing short of a systematic and organised effort 
was likely to accomplish what was required. 

Occasional revelations of fraud on the part of 
mediums had done little to damp the ardour of the 
believers. So long as it was possible to appeal 
to unexplained marvels in the past, so long was it 
easy for most minds to regard each successive ex- 
posure of trickery as an isolated incident. It was 
manifest indeed that the mediums had not suffered 
irretrievably, either in purse or reputation, from 
repeated exposures. Their business had no doubt 
met with a slight check In the four or five years 
immediately preceding the foundation of the Society 
for Psychical Research. But this was partly due 

' Sir W. Crookes wrote, in 1871, that Spiritualism " numbers its adherents 
by millions" {^Researches in Spiritualism^ p. 33). 



Spiritualism 1 73 

to the rival attractions of Theosophy and the thau- 
maturgic feats of Madame Blavatsky. Further, 
some of the most noted mediums of the earlier 
generation had withdrawn from the active pursuit 
of their profession. D. D. Home had retired into 
private life some years before. Mr. Moses' physical 
phenomena had ceased in 1880 or thereabouts. 
Slade was, indeed, willing, it was understood, to 
give sittings, but was prevented from coming to 
England by reason of the legal proceedings which 
Professor Lankester had instituted against him in 
1876, and which were still pending. But the phe- 
nomena still continued, though the performers came 
somewhat less prominently before the public eye. 
Eglinton continued to give slate-writing perform- 
ances for some years ; and both he and other 
physical mediums exhibited materialisations — some- 
times in surprising variety — at dark seances. In- 
deed, dark seances for materialisation, though now 
much more difficult of access to those who have 
given no pledges of fidelity, have continued down 
to the present time. 

In 1882, therefore, though the physical phe- 
nomena of Spiritualism were certainly less startling 
and less abundant than they had been for some 
years previously, there seemed still no reason to 
doubt that there would be ample material for In- 
vestigation. Indeed, Professor H. Sidgwick, In 
the course of his first Presidential address to the 
nascent Society, delivered at Willis's Rooms in 
July, 1882, after explaining that the Society would 



174 Spiritualism 

by preference turn its attention to physical phe- 
nomena occurring in private circles, thought himself 
justified in assuming the existence of a mass of 
evidence of this kind. Mr. Sidgwick went on to 
express the hope that the occurrence of such phe- 
nomena would be more rapidly and extensively 
communicated to the representatives of the Society 
for impartial investigation. That hope was not 
destined to be realised. In the twenty-five years 
which have elapsed, whilst few opportunities have 
been afforded to the Society's representatives for 
continuous investigation of any sort, no positive 
results have been obtained worthy of record. 

In short, just when an organised and systematic 
investigation on a scale not inadequate to the im- 
portance of the subject was for the first time about 
to be made, the phenomena to be investigated 
diminished rapidly in frequency and importance, 
and the opportunities for investigation were further 
curtailed by the indifference or reluctance of the 
mediums to submit their claims to examination. 
The researches of the Society have not, however, 
been entirely fruitless. On the one hand, some of 
us have had the opportunity of witnessing in private 
circles physical movements and other phenomena, 
claimed as due to occult forces, which on further 
examination have proved to be produced fraudu- 
lently. In two of these cases at least the " medium " 
was a well-educated man, with no apparent motive 
for deception, and the deception itself was of a 
systematic kind, involving careful preparation. The 



Spiritualism 175 

proof that disinterested fraud of this kind may be 
practised by persons on whom the ordinary motives 
of pecuniary gain or notoriety can hardly be sup- 
posed to operate has been found of considerable 
value in interpreting some of the most puzzling 
problems of Spiritualism. 

On the other hand, a series of careful investiga- 
tions by some members of the Society has thrown 
valuable light on the nature of the psychological 
processes which facilitate deception at a spiritual- 
istic seance. Accurate observation of the phe- 
nomena occurring at the ordinary seance is, indeed, 
rarely possible, because the sitting generally takes 
place in a subdued light ; and, further, because 
many of the more striking phenomena occur im- 
promptu, when the experimenter, not knowing 
what to expect, is not fully prepared for observa- 
tion. But there was one particular manifestation 
which seemed to offer every facility for investiga- 
tion, — the performance of writing on slates, as 
exhibited in England by the American medium, 
Slade, in 1876, and later by William Eglinton. 
The performance took place in daylight ; it was 
fairly constant in its appearance, instances of com- 
pletely unsuccessful seances being relatively rare ; 
and from the nature of the exhibition the con- 
ditions presented, or seemed to present, the fullest 
opportunity for examination. A prominent Spirit- 
ualist wrote in 1886 of an exhibition by Eglinton : 
*' The facts are of so simple a nature that they 
could as well be observed by any ordinary intel- 



176 Spiritualism 

ligence as by the most scientific member of the 
Society for Psychical Research."^ And it is diffi- 
cult on reading the reports furnished by intelligent 
witnesses to avoid endorsing this statement. Briefly, 
the manifestation in its typical form is — or was a 
few years ago — as follows : Medium and sitter take 
their seats cornerwise at an ordinary wooden table 
without a cloth. A common school slate, with a 
fragment of slate-pencil on it, is held by one hand 
of each person, with the upper surface pressed close 
against the under surface of the table. The sitter, 
by direction of the medium, asks a question of the 
spirits. The sound of writing is heard. The slate 
is lifted up, and an answer to the question is found 
scrawled on its surface. 

The witnesses of 1886 testified to writing on 
slates marked by the sitters ; answers to questions 
written down and not shown to the medium ; an- 
swers to mental questions ; the receipt of long com- 
munications relevant to the conversation of the 
moment , and, occasionally, the reproduction of 
words from the given page of a book chosen by 
the sitter. The sittings took place in broad day- 
light ; and many of the witnesses reported that they 
were permitted to bring their own slates, to mark 
the slates used, to tie or even lock the double 
slates, to hold them above the table, and to take 
other necessary precautions against fraud. 

The present writer attended a seance with Slade 

' Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood, in the Journal, S. P. R., November, 1886, 
p. 457. 



Spiritualism 177 

in 1876, and was for years after convinced that 
what he had seen could not be accounted for by 
any forces known to science. I am glad to say 
that my conviction has been shared by many con- 
jurers, professional and amateur. ^ No Spiritualist 
marvel, indeed, has seemed more inexplicable, and 
none, happily for our purpose, has been so freely 
and fully attested. Thus in the Spiritualist journal. 
Light, for October, 1886, the testimony of about a 
hundred observers, amongst them many persons of 
intellectual distinction, is quoted as endorsing the 
genuineness of the manifestation. 

In view of these considerations the Society 
selected the manifestation of slate-writing, as pre- 
sented by the medium Eglinton, for the purpose of 
a crucial investigation. At the instance of the 
Society, several witnesses went in couples to the 
performance and wrote independent accounts of 
what they saw. And, from a minute examination, 
the late Dr. Richard Hodgson was able to demon- 
strate frequent and, as he showed, significant dis- 
crepancies in these separate accounts. In a word, 
the witnesses did as we all do — they selected for 
record what appeared to them the most important 
incidents and omitted what seemed to them irrele- 
vant. But occasionally a witness more scrupulous 
than most would record some of these irrelevant 
incidents ; and it is precisely in these that the key 
to the whole performance is to be found. Eglin- 
ton, it would thus appear, was habitually affected 

* See the instances quoted in my Modern Spiritualism y vol. ii., pp. 204-7. 



178 Spiritualism 

at these seances with a distressing cough ; he would 
constantly — through fatigue, as he alleged — change 
the position of his limbs or even shift momentarily 
the hand which held the slate ; sometimes the slate 
itself would be dropped on the floor ; he would now 
and again go to the door to answer a summons 
from the servant. Ordinary good manners would 
prevent the visitor from taking notice of such inci- 
dents at the time, and generally they would leave 
no trace in the memory. But the cough would 
have served to hide the sound of an unlocked slate 
or an unfolded paper ; the shifting of the hand ad- 
mitted of the shifting of the slate also ; the move- 
ment to the door gave opportunity for an actual 
substitution. In fact, the performance, as was soon 
to be proved, was commonly effected in one of two 
ways. The shorter messages were actually written 
by Eglinton on the under surface whilst the slate 
was being held under the table, and opportunity 
was subsequently found, without exciting the sit- 
ter's suspicions, to reverse the slate ; the longer 
messages were written beforehand on another slate, 
and opportunity found for substitution. When the 
secret was guessed expert observers could watch 
all the processes of legerdemain throughout the 
performance. 

The following extracts from independent ac- 
counts written by two Associates of the Society, 
Mr. G. A. Smith and the late Mr. J. Murray Tem- 
pleton, will serve to illustrate the nature of the 
discrepancies and omissions actually observed, or 



Spiritualism 179 

inferred, in the accounts. The incident described 
by Mr. Smith stands, it must be admitted, alto- 
gether beyond the scope of legerdemain ; if we 
accept the description as accurate — and Mr. Smith 
as a witness stands probably well above the aver- 
age — it would go far to justify the Spiritualist 
belief in the operation of a novel power wielded by 
an extraneous intelligence. 

From Mr. G. A. Smith ' 

I2th June, 1885 

[The account was written on the day following the seance.] 

. . . We now expressed our desire to get something written 

which could be regarded as outside the knowledge of any of 

us — such as a certain word on a given line of a chosen page of 

a book. 

I then went to the bookshelf, took a book at haphazard, 
without of course looking at the title, returned to my seat, 
placed the book upon the chair, and sat upon it whilst we were 
arranging the page, line, and word to be asked for. This point 
Mr. Templeton and I decided by each taking a few crayons 
and pencils from the table by chance, and counting them ; 
Mr. Templeton had possessed himself of i8 pieces of crayon, 
and I had seized 9 pieces of pencil, we found on counting 
them; we therefore decided that the "controls" should be 
asked to write the last word oi line 18 on page 9 of the book. 
This article I now produced, and laid it upon one of my slates, 
and Mr. Eglinton held the two close beneath the underneath 
of the table — the book of course being held firmly closed be- 
tween the table and the slate. We then commenced conversing; 
in the midst of Mr. Eglinton's own remarks the writing was 
heard to commence. For about 25 seconds he was talking and 
the writing was going on simultaneously ; he then ceased, and 

^Journal, S. P. R., June, 1886. 



i8o Spiritualism 

the writing continued a few more seconds before the three taps 
came indicating its conchision. The message we found was 
as follows : " This is a Hungarian book of poems. The last 
word of page i8 (page 9, line 18) is bunhoseded." 

After we had observed that a mistake in the figures had been 
corrected in parenthesis, I opened the book at page 9, and we 
found that the last word on line 18 of that page was "bun- 
hodesed." Remarking upon the fact that the last two syllables 
of the word had been transposed, we asked the " controls " if 
it was a mistake, and how it had arisen ; we received the 
written reply : " Yes. We have not power to properly read 
the last word." 

As a test experiment I think this may be regarded as a very 
successful and crucial one ; for it is difficult to believe that 
Mr. Eglinton can have committed to memory the exact posi- 
tion of every word in every book on his bookshelves — con- 
taining some 200 books, or more. And it is easy for us to say 
with confidence that all his movements were so carefully 
watched that the slightest attempt on his part to open the 
book, or even to touch it, would have been detected almost 
before the attempt was made ; and it is a fact that the book 
was never once touched by him, and could not possibly have 
had one of its leaves exposed to his view for an instant, let 
alone page 9 long enough to enable him to count down to the 
i8th line. Of course the test would have greater value as such 
had we been able to use a book which we could be certain he 
had never read; but if this point tells against the result, the 
fact that by a happy chance my selection caused a Hungarian 
book of poems to be used should surely counterbalance this 
evidential flaw to a great extent, and reduce the chances of 
his having memorised the position of every word in it to a 
minimum. That I was not forced to take this special book 
from its being in a particularly handy and prominent position, 
and that page 9 and line 18 were not "led up to" by Mr. 
Eglinton is obvious — from the fact that I made my selection 
without looking at the books; and that the page and line were 
determined by chance, then and there, as I have described. 



Spiritualism i8i 

But Mr. Templeton's version of the same incident, 
if briefer, is more to the point. 

From Mr. Templeton 

14th June, 1885 

Next the final and most crucial test was proposed by Mr. 
Eglinton. It had been suggested to his own mind by a former 
test of my own, in which I had wished to preclude all pos- 
sibility of any explanation such as thought transference. We 
arranged that Mr. Smith should turn to the bookshelves behind 
him, choose a book at random, in which we could fix upon a 
certain word in a certain line of a given page — which word 
was to be written for us. On taking a book Mr. Smith asked 
Mr. Eglinton if he knew what it was. Mr. Eglinton answered 
"Yes," and that as it was a rather trashy novel it might be 
better to choose another. Mr. Smith then took a small red- 
covered book from the opposite shelf, and this Mr. Eglinton 
said he did not recognise. As the theory of the medium's 
mesmeric influence over the sitters had been more than once 
put before me as a not impossible explanation I suggested we 
should fix the line by the number of crayons in a box before 
us, which gave us the i8th line; and in a similar way, from a 
separate heap of slate pencils, we obtained the number 9 for 
page. The last word in the line was chosen. 

Now from this later version we learn (i) that the 
test was proposed by Eglinton himself; (2) that the 
book was not chosen entirely '' at haphazard " ; it 
was a second choice, and — a significant point — it 
had a conspicuous cover; (3) that the line and page 
were determined, not by taking a handful of pencils 
and crayons from larger heaps, as might have been 
inferred from Mr. Smith's account, but by tak- 
ing the actual number of those articles present on 
the table. From the first account it might be in- 
ferred that Eglinton's only chance of meeting the 



1 82 Spiritualism 

test would have been by opening the book then 
and there and writing the word. We know from 
other accounts that the trick was occasionally per- 
formed in this way. But with two not uncritical 
observers this method may have seemed too haz- 
ardous. It seems probable that the word had been 
written beforehand, and that the choice of book, 
page, and line were successively '' forced " on the 
experimenters. 

But all that Hodgson's analysis could in most 
cases demonstrate was that the accounts of the per- 
formance given even by intelligent witnesses were 
frequently inaccurate; and that from these inaccu- 
racies it might legitimately be inferred that if Eg- 
linton had practised trickery, that trickery would not 
have been detected. To many intelligent persons this 
method of argument seemed unsatisfactory. They 
felt that they, in witnessing the phenomena, had 
not been guilty of similar errors of observation, nor, 
in recording them, of similar lapses of memory. It 
was urged that Eglinton had abundantly demon- 
strated his possession of occult powers ; and that 
trickery, even if the proof were admitted as suffi- 
cient, was only resorted to on occasions when his 
genuine powers failed him. A more conspicuous 
demonstration of the fraudulent nature of the whole 
performance was needed, and was forthcoming. 
One of the Society's members, the late Mr. S. J. 
Davey, himself in the first instance a victim of 
EgHnton's wiles, ultimately detected the cheat and 
set himself to imitate the performance. Mr. Davey 



Spiritualism 183 

placed his services at the disposal of the Society 
and allowed us to introduce to him a number of 
sitters, on condition that they would write a full 
account of what they believed themselves to have 
witnessed. Mr. Davey revealed his methods to 
Dr. Hodgson, who arranged most of the sittings, 
and was present to watch the proceedings. In 
1 892, after Mr. Davey's death, he published ^ a full 
explanation of the methods by which Mr. Davey 
succeeded in performing his marvels. 

Here is an account, written on the following day, 
of one of Davey's performances, as seen through 
the eyes of an intelligent observer. The writer of 
the account, Mr. H. W. S., was a comparative 
stranger to Mr. Davey. He had been told before 
the sitting that the marvels which he was to witness 
were not attributable to " spirits " or occult forces ; 
and, as will be seen in the sequel, he attempts to 
explain them by physical means. He was by no 
means therefore in the mood of unquestioning ac- 
ceptance common to those who visit spirit mediums. 
He knew that what he was to see was of the nature 
of a conjuring trick. 

Report of Mr. H. W. S.'* 

February nth, 1887. 
After the very interesting scientific phenomena to which I 
was an eye-witness last night, it gives me much pleasure to 
detail the various astonishing feats displayed by Mr. Davey. 
The apartment in which I was received was a well-stocked 

* Proceedings, vol. viii., page 253, etc. 
"^Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. iv., pp. 468-470. 



1 84 Spiritualism 

library, and the furniture, including the table at which we sat, 
was of the ordinary make and style, with none of the intri- 
cacies so necessary to the every-day conjurer ; and I am 
convinced that the furniture of the room and its general 
surroundings played no part whatever in the accomplishment 
of the facts which I am going to narrate. 

Having produced a small book-slate, Mr. Davey asked me to 
examine it, and to satisfy myself as to its simplicity of con- 
struction, etc. I did so ; the slate was composed of two or- 
dinary pieces of slate, about six by four inches, mounted in 
ebony covers hinged on one side with two strong plated hinges, 
and closed in front, beyond the question of a doubt, with a 
Chatwood's patent lock. 

With the exception of a small escutcheon, bearing the ini- 
tials of the donor, the slate was plain and substantial, and 
bore the strictest inspection, so as to entirely preclude the 
idea of chemicals or any other similar agent being used to it. 

(a) After I had finished examining the slate, Mr. Davey 
asked me to write in the slate any question I liked while he 
was absent from the room. Picking up a piece of grey crayon, 
I wrote the following question : " What is the specific gravity 
of platinum ? " and then having locked the slate and retained 
the key, I placed the former on the table and the latter in my 
pocket. 

After the lapse of a few minutes I heard a distinct sound as 
of writing, and on being requested to unlock the slate I there 
discovered to my great surprise the answer of my question : 
" We don't know the specific gravity, Joey." The pencil with 
which it was written was a little piece which we had enclosed, 
and which would just rattle between the sides of the folded 
slate. 

Having had my hands on the slate above the table, I can 
certify that the slate was not touched or tampered with during 
the time the writing was going on. 

(d) Next ; having taken an ordinary scholar's slate and 
placed a fragment of red crayon upon it, Mr. Davey placed it 
under the flap of the table. I held one side with my hand as 



Spiritualism 185 

before. I then heard the same sound as previously, and when 
the slate was placed on the table I found the following short 
address distinctly written : " Dear Mr. S , — The substitu- 
tion dodge is good ; the chemical is better, but you see by the 
writing the spirits know a trick worth two of that. This 
medium is honest, and I am the only true Joey." The writing 
was in red crayon, and was in regular parallel straight lines. 

[Another experiment with the locked slate followed and 
then the writer continues :] 

{d) Lastly, as requested by Mr. Davey, I took a coin from 
my pocket without looking at it, placed it in an envelope, and 
sealed it up. I am certain that neither Mr. Davey nor myself 
knew anything about the coin. I then placed it in the book- 
slate together with a piece of pencil, closed it as previously, 
and deposited it on the table ; and having placed my hands 
with those of Mr. Davey on the upper surface of the slate, 
waited a short time. I then unlocked the slate as requested, 
and to my intense amazement I found the date of the coin 
written, by the side of the envelope containing it. 

The seal and envelope (which I have now) remained intact. 

This last feat astonished me more than the others, so utterly 
impossible and abnormal did it appear to me. I may also 
mention that everything which was used, including the cloth 
and sponge with which the slates were cleansed, were eagerly 
and thoroughly scrutinised by me, and I failed to detect any- 
thing in the shape of mechanism of any kind. Were I sceptic- 
ally inclined towards Spiritualism, I should have attributed 
the feats I witnessed to it, but I am convinced from the dona 
fide manner in which Mr. Davey proceeded to perform his 
mysterious writing. Spiritualism plays no part in it whatever. 
Were I asked to account for the method by which the writing 
was done, or rather to advance any theory based upon which 
it would be possible to produce such phenomena, I should 
suggest a powerful magnetic force used in a double manner, 
/>., I St, the force of attraction, and 2nd, that of repulsion. 

But Mr. Davey has by great perseverance and study culti- 
vated his scientific secret to such an extent that were it mag- 



1 86 Spiritualism 

netism, electricity, pneumatics, or anything else, it would baffle 
the most accomplished in any of those branches of science to 
form even an approximate idea of his modus operandi. 

Mr. H. W. S. was probably at least as good an 
observer as the great majority of those who ha\e 
testified to marvels performed by spirit mediums. 
And he had, as we have seen, a great advantage 
over the ordinary Spiritualist, Inasmuch as he knew 
that there was nothing occult or Inexplicable In the 
business. But yet the performance, as described 
by him, might well seem to require the aid of magic; 
and Indeed the distinguished naturalist, Dr. A. R. 
Wallace, has selected the events of this seance, with 
others, as being inexplicable by conjuring. So they 
are. If the account quoted accurately described what 
took place. But they seem Inexplicable only be- 
cause the account is highly condensed, and in the 
process of condensation the recorder has omitted — 
as Davey intended that he should omit — much that 
would have given a clue to the deception practised. 
Thus in his account of experiment {a) Mr. H. W. S. 
admits **the lapse of a few minutes" between his 
placing the key of the locked slate in his pocket 
and the sound of writing. He is even so a better 
recorder than many, who would have failed to re- 
cord the interval at all. But he omits all that 
happened In that Interval as Irrelevant. He does 
so, no doubt, because of two assumptions, neither 
of which was justified :(i) that he had the slate under 
observation the whole time ; (2) that the message 
was actually written at the moment when the sound 



Spiritualism 187 

as of writing was heard. What actually happened, 
in accordance with the methods revealed by Dr. 
Hodgson, was somewhat as follows : Mr. Davey 
possessed two precisely similar locked slates, with 
common keys. Davey was out of the room whilst 
the sitter was writing his question in slate A. On 
his return he diverted the sitter s attention — proba- 
bly by asking him to examine the under side of the 
table — and took advantage of the opportunity to 
substitute the locked slate B for A. He then gave 
the sitter some ordinary slates to clean and examine, 
and whilst he was thus occupied, Davey left the 
room with A, opened it, and wrote the answer to 
the question. On his return he found some other 
method of diverting the sitter's attention, and re- 
substituted A for B. The sound of writing was 
produced by Davey 's finger-nail scratching the 
under surface of the slate, or by some similar 
device; and the miracle was accomplished. 

It may seem incredible that Davey, who performed 
this particular trick at practically every seance, and 
sometimes, as in the present case, twice at the same 
sitting, should never have incurred detection, or 
even suspicion, in the double process of substitution 
described. But in the first place, he made a prac- 
tice of carrying on the second experiment {b) whilst 
(a) was still in progress, so that the sitter had two 
slates instead of one to watch ; and, further, he had 
several devices for distracting the sitter's attention, 
of which not the least effective was his conjurer's 
patter. Davey allowed me to be present at one of 



1 88 Spiritualism 

the experiments, the victim being my own brother, 
Mr. A. Podmore. Davey took away the locked 
double slate A, under cover of a duster, whilst my 
brother was watching the slates already prepared 
for the next experiment. When he effected the 
resubstltutlon of the locked slates, he succeeded In 
completely diverting Mr. A. Podmore's attention 
by means of some weird narrative of marvellous 
events at a previous sitting. I saw that my brother's 
eyes were fixed on the narrator's face for the space 
of a minute or so. But at the end of the sitting my 
brother was convinced that he had not Intermitted 
for an instant his watching of the locked slate. 

The account above given, however, of the sitting 
with Mr. H. W. S. Is unduly simplified. Miracle (^), 
as already said, was actually In progress before (a), 
was fulfilled. The sitter had been asked to clean 
some slates. Before the sound of writing was heard 
In the locked slates, Davey had taken two of these 
slates, together with a third slate, not cleaned by 
the sitter, on the under surface of which the long 
message In red chalk had been written before the 
sitting. On the clean upper surface of this prepared 
slate he placed a fragment of red chalk and covered 
it with one of the slates cleaned by the sitter, and 
left both In full view on the table. The second of 
the two slates cleaned by the sitter was then placed, 
as described in the account, under the flap of the 
table. Probably after a short Interval the word 
"yes" was found written on the slate In answer to 
some question of sitter or medium. This *'yes" 



Spiritualism 189 

would be written at the time by means of a thimble 
pencil. The experiment would then be temporarily 
intermitted, first to allow of the unlocking of slate 
A, secondly to allow of the cleaning of that locked 
slate, and the preparation of another trial with the 
same (the record of this — experiment c — is omitted, 
as containing no new feature). What ultimately hap- 
pened was that the two slates on one of which the 
red chalk message was already written were placed 
under the table, and then by means of substitutions, 
and reversals of position, the opportunity for which 
was afforded by the breaks in the experiment, the 
under of these two slates was eventually found to 
contain on the upper surface the message quoted in 
the text. 

The explanation of experiment (</), which so 
profoundly puzzled the sitter, was even simpler. 
Mr. Hodgson's comment on the experiment is as 
follows : 

I do not recall with certainty what the coin was. Let us 
suppose it was a shilling. Mr. Davey beforehand wrote the 
date of a shilling of his own in locked-slate A, placed this 
shilling in an envelope and sealed it up, and placed this 
envelope also in locked-slate A, which at the beginning of the 
experiment he had concealed about his person. He then re- 
quested the sitter to take a shilling from his pocket without 
looking at it, to place it in an envelope and seal it up, place it 
in the locked-slate B, etc. The sitting was at Mr. Davey's 
house, and Mr. Davey provided the envelope, from the same 
packet, of course, as the one already containing Mr. Davey's 
shilling in locked-slate A. The sitter was requested not to 
look at his coin, ostensibly, I believe, on the ground of pre- 
cluding thought-transference, but really so that the sitter 



I go Spiritualism 

might not know the difference between his own coin and 
Mr. Davey's. It is now plain that all the dexterity required 
in this experiment was a simple substitution. 

But the greatest marvel of all remains to be 
recounted — the writing of a given line on a given 
page of a book selected from the bookcase by the 
sitter himself — an imitation of the trick already 
described as performed by Eglinton. Here is an 
account of one such experiment. The meeting 
was held in the library at Mr. Davey's own house, 
containing upwards of a thousand volumes. There 
were three sitters. One of these, Mr. Manville, 
describes this particular experiment as follows : 

From Mr. E. Manville ' 

2d December, 1886. 

[The stance had taken place on the previous evening.] 

{e) Mr. Davey now said he would endeavour to get a given 
line on a given page of a book written for us. Mr. Venner 
therefore looked over the titles of the books ranged on the 
shelves and selected one 7ne?iially^ without touching it with 
his hands ; at this moment I suggested it would be better if I 
were to select the book, as I did not know Mr. Davey at all, 
whilst Mr. Venner did. Mr. Davey acquiesced. I selected a 
title. IiT order to decide what line and page we should select, 
I took a pinch of crayons from a box, Mr. Pinnock doing the 
same. On counting, mine came to 6, Mr. Pinnock's to 11. 
Mr. Venner's came to 3. Mr. P. and I divided Mr. V.'s, 
making mine 8, and Mr. P.'s 12, so we decided that it should 
be p. 12, line 8. 

[The first trial was a failure: the word "muddle" was 
written on the slate held under the table] and we appre- 
hended it was on account of Mr. Venner and myself both 

^Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. iv., pp. 455-6. 



Spiritualism 191 

having chosen a book ; we therefore thought it would be best 
for Mr. Pinnock, who knew Mr. Davey no better than I, to 
select another book. 

(/) This he did. We washed the two slates, laid them 
face to face on the table, when the following words were 
written : *' The difference in this respect." Mr. Pinnock now 
took down the book he had selected from the shelf, and 
handed it to me ; I opened it at the 12th page and looked at 
the eighth line. I found the first two words completed a sen- 
tence ; then came the five words above, and then two more to 
finish the line. I said the written words were right, but not 
complete. The slate was covered again, and three more 
words were written : " Shakespeare and Beaumont." On 
looking at the book I found ** Shakespeare " was the last 
word in the line, the other two being in the next line. I said 
a word was still missed out. The slates were put together 
again, and two more words written. On looking at the book 
these turned out to be the two words terminating the last 
sentence. I said there was still the word missing, and this 
time the word " between " was written, making the sentence 
complete : " The difference in this respect between Shake- 
speare and Beaumont." I then asked for the last word in the 
line by itself, and this was written *' Shakes," which was 
correct, as Shakespeare was half on one line and half on the 
other. The name of the book was Lectures on Shakespeare^ etc. 

Mr. Pinnock himself and Mr. Venner, the other 
witness, explain that the title was chosen mentally, 
the book not being removed from the shelves. 

Mr. Davey tried several experiments of the kind. 
The method of procedure was to write down the 
passage beforehand on a slate which could be sub- 
sequently introduced by substitution. The real 
difficulty, of course, was to induce the sitters to 
select the book which Mr. Davey had predestined 



192 Spiritualism 

for the purpose of the experiment, and when the 
book had been selected in accordance with his 
wishes to determine also their choice of page and 
line. The book was ** forced" upon the sitters' 
choice. Mr. Davey generally fixed upon a bright 
coloured volume, or one likely to be otherwise at- 
tractive, and placed it on the shelf most likely to 
meet the eye, ranging on either side of it some dull 
and inconspicuous volumes. I have watched him 
arrange books in my own bookshelves for the pur- 
pose. As in the present case, the experiment fre- 
quently failed on the first attempt. Sometimes 
Mr. Davey would himself reject the sitters* first 
choice, on the ground that the print was too small, 
or the subject-matter unsuitable. But it is sur- 
prising how often he succeeded in forcing the right 
book, at least on the second or third attempt. To 
secure a reasonable chance of coincidence in line 
and page he generally requested the sitters to 
choose numbers under 10, and his experience in 
number habits led him in many cases correctly to 
anticipate their choice. In the Instance quoted, 
however, he resorts to another device. From Mr. 
Manville's account It would appear as If the division 
of the crayons had been a spontaneous move on 
the part of the sitters. But Mr. Venner In his 
report of the sitting tells us : 

The medium requested each of us to take a small handful 
of chalks out of the box on the table. Mr. P. took 11, Mr. 
M. six, and I three. The medium divided the three chalks I 
had selected between the other two. We had previously 



Spiritualism 193 

agreed that Mr. P.'s number should represent a page, and 
Mr. M.'s number a line, of some book to be chosen mentally 
by one of the party, the medium promising to endeavour to 
reproduce on the slate the line so determined. In the present 
case it was of course the eighth line of the 12th page. 

The sitting, it will be remembered, took place in 
Davey's own house. He had no doubt left exactly 
20 pieces of crayon in the box, and by the method 
adopted of dividing the third lot of crayons there 
was little difficulty in arriving at the numbers 
already selected — 8 and 12. 

Dr. Hodgson's careful analysis of the accounts 
of Eglinton's miracles, and the skilful counterfeits 
— more skilful frequently than their originals — pre- 
sented by Mr. Davey, must convince the dispas- 
sionate enquirer of the radical untrustworthiness 
alike of the senses and of the memory in matters of 
this kind. And this may almost be called a new 
discovery. The biologist, the astronomer, the 
physicist have, of course, learnt, each in his own 
department, the limitations of the senses, their nar- 
row range, their fallibility, their habitual inaccuracy. 
But these defects are fairly constant, and when once 
ascertained can be guarded against or supplemented 
by the use of appropriate instruments and by allow- 
ance for the personal equation of the observer. 
But no training in the laboratory will do much to 
make a man a better observer at a Spiritualist 
seance. What is required in such circumstances 
is a power of observation which is able to resist the 
artifices employed to distract it, and which, if not 

13 



194 Spiritualism 

actually unremitting — since it would seem that 
nature itself forbids that, — is at least alive to its 
own lapses. And a power of observation of this 
kind is not demanded and is not exercised in the 
laboratory, and cannot be acquired except by 
training of a very special kind. 

But in dealing with the phenomena presented by 
Spiritualist mediums, even errors of perception are 
often of less importance than errors of memory. 
The record of any event, or series of events, pre- 
served in our memory is in no case comparable to a 
photograph. It is more like a picture or even a map. 
It is a selection, a work of art ; and unfortunately 
in the present case the principle of selection, the 
aesthetic guidance, are supplied by the medium. 
In Dr. Hodgson's words : 

The source of error which I desire in particular to press 
upon the reader's notice is the perishability, the exceeding 
transience, the fading feebleness, the evanescence beyond re- 
call, of certain impressions which nevertheless did enter the 
domain of consciousness, and did in their place form part of 
the stream of impetuous waking thought. 

It is, moreover, not simply and merely that many events, 
which did obtain at the sitting some share of perception, thus 
lapse completely from the realm of ordinary recollection. The 
consequence may indeed be that we meet with a blank or a 
chaos in traversing the particular field of remembrance from 
which the events have lapsed ; but this will often be filled 
with some conjectured events which rapidly become attached 
to the adjacent parts, and form, in conjunction with them, a 
consolidated but fallacious fragment in memory. On the other 
hand, the consequence may be that the edges of the lacunce 
close up — events originally separated by a considerable inter- 



spiritualism 195 

val are now remembered vividly in immediate juxtaposition, 
and there is no trace of the piecing/ 

As a result mainly of the researches carried on 
by Mrs. Sidgwick, Dr. Richard Hodgson, and S. J. 
Davey, the investigators of the Society have come 
to adopt as a working formula that no evidence 
for the physical phenomena of Spiritualism can be 
regarded as«<of permanent value which depends 
for its vaHdity upon the exercise of continuous 
observation. 

Applying this test to the evidences for the 
physical phenomena of Spiritualism, we shall find 
them all wanting. Again and again the proof has 
seemed all but complete ; and always, as the con- 
ditions have been perfected so as to close up the last 
loophole for fraud — always the *' spirits " have re- 
fused to do their part. In all these years there is 
no record of which we can say, *' Either the thing 
happened so, or the investigators have lied." 

A field for the application of this formula can be 
found in the investigations which are still proceed- 
ing on the Continent into the physical phenomena 
occurring in the presence of the Italian medium, 
Eusapia Paladino. Eusapia has practised as a 
medium for many years ; but the phenomena pro- 
duced through her agency first attracted general 
attention in 1893. In the previous year a com- 
mittee, including many persons of distinction. Pro- 
fessor Brofferio, M. Schiaparelli, Director of the 
Astronomical Observatory in Milan, Professor 

^Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. iv., pp. 386, 387. 



196 Spiritualism 

Lombroso, Professor C. Richet, etc., had held 
some sittings with her at Milan. In their reports, 
printed early in 1893, they expressed their convic- 
tion that some of the things witnessed could not 
be attributed to normal agency. Professor Richet, 
however, though attaching great weight to the 
phenomena which he had observed, was of opinion 
that complete proof of abnormal agency was want- 
ing. In particular, M. Richet considered that the 
manner in which Eusapia's hands were held during 
the dark seances was suspicious. He writes : 

During the experiments, Eusapia generally has the right 
and left hand held differently ; on one side her whole hand 
is firmly held ; on the other side, instead of having her hand 
held by the person next her, she merely places her hand on 
his, but touches his hand with all five fingers, so that he can 
feel quite distinctly whether it is the right or the left hand 
with which he is in contact. 

This is what follows : at the moment when the manifesta- 
tions are about to begin, the hand which is not being held, 
but which is lightly placed on the hand of the person on that 
side (for the sake of simplicity we will suppose that it is Eusa- 
pia's right hand, though it is in fact sometimes the right, 
sometimes the left), — the right hand, then, becomes very un- 
steady, and begins to move about so rapidly that it is impos- 
sible to follow its movements : it shifts about every moment, 
and for the mere fraction of a second it is not felt at all ; then 
it is felt again, and one could swear that it is the right hand.' 

In the summer of 1894, Professor Richet invited 
Sir Oliver Lodge, Mr. F. W. H. Myers, Dr. 
Ochorowicz, and one or two others, to join him in 

* Annales des Sciences Psychiqtus, January-February, i8g3. See also a 
criticism of the articles in the Annales, by the present writer, in Proceed- 
ings, S. P. R., vol. ix., pp. 218-225. 



Spiritualism 197 

investigating the powers claimed by Eusapia Pala- 
dino. The phenomena observed, when Eusapia's 
hands and feet were believed to be secured, and 
other precautions had been taken to prevent phy- 
sical intervention on her part, consisted mainly of 
the movements of articles of furniture at a certain 
distance from the circle ; the lifting of a heavy 
table from the ground ; the movement of smaller 
objects from one part of the room to another ; the 
sounding of notes on musical instruments ; and 
grasps and touches felt by the experimenters on 
various parts of their persons. The seances for the 
most part took place in a very subdued light, so 
that the proof of Eusapia's non-intervention rested 
mainly, though not entirely, on the secure holding 
of her hands. Nevertheless, the phenomena were 
so impressive that Sir Oliver Lodge and others 
expressed the conviction that some of the things 
observed could not be accounted for by any known 
agency. 

When, however, accounts of these experiments 
and of the conclusions arrived at were printed in 
the Journal of the Society, Dr. Hodgson immedi- 
ately challenged the accuracy of the observations, 
mainly on the ground that it did not appear that 
Eusapia's hands and feet had been held in such a 
way as to make fraud impossible. Finally, in the 
summer of 1895, another series of sittings was held 
with Eusapia in this country. Very early in the 
series suspicious movements on the medium's part 
were observedo Later, Dr. Hodgson himself joined 



198 Spiritualism 

the circle ; and it was conclusively shown that 
Eusapia was availing herself of the peculiar method 
of *' holding " previously described by Professor 
RIchet to get one hand free, and then execute the 
movements observed. Briefly, her method is to 
begin by allowing one hand to be firmly held by 
the sitter on one side (say the left), and to let the 
fingers of the other, the right hand, rest on the 
hand of the sitter on the other side. Then, In 
the course of the rapid spasmodic movements re- 
ferred to by Professor RIchet, she approximates 
the hands of the sitters on either side of her, until 
they are so near together that one of Eusapla's 
hands (the left) will do duty for two — being 
grasped by one of the sitters' hands and resting its 
fingers on the hand of the other sitter. The de- 
sired " phenomenon " is then brought about, and 
the right hand restored to its former position. 
Other devices of a similar kind were observed or 
inferred ; and probably there are yet others which 
have escaped detection. 

Dr. Hodgson's conclusion that all the physical 
phenomena produced in Eusapla's presence from 
first to last were due to fraud, was at the time 
shared by most of the leading investigators of the 
Society for Psychical Research. In 1898, however, 
there were held in Paris some strikingly successful 
seances, at which Professor RIchet and the late F. 
W. H. Myers were present, and subsequently these 
two gentlemen and Sir Oliver Lodge took occasion 
to reaffirm their belief in the genuineness of some 



Spiritualism 199 

at least of the physical manifestations occurring in 
the presence of Eusapia Paladino.^ Within the 
last few years several well-known Italian men of 
science, including some who, like Professor Mor- 
selli, had for long proclaimed their disbelief in the 
subject, have investigated and declared their con- 
viction of the genuineness of some of the phe- 
nomena occurring in the presence of Eusapia. It 
is generally admitted, however, that Eusapia will 
use physical means when the conditions permit of 
her doing so ; and that the phenomena recognised 
as genuine give little support to the hypothesis of 
spirit intervention. If not wholly due to fraud and 
illusion, they can best be attributed to the opera- 
tion of some force emanating from the medium's 
organism. The description of the feats witnessed, 
in fact, strongly suggests that the medium has the 
power of extruding false limbs^** pseudopodia " — 
from her person, or is possessed of some force 
(ectenic force) capable of acting on material ob- 
jects at a short distance beyond the limits of her 
material organism. 

The difficulty in accepting the accounts given 
lies precisely in the fact that the distance is so 
short. The objects moved are all situated within 
the near neighbourhood of Eusapia ; the proof that 
she did not move them by normal means depends, 
as before, chiefly on the secure holding — or, more 
rarely, binding — of the medium's limbs and on the 
accuracy of the experimenters' observation. The 

* Journal, S. P. R., March, 1899, pp. 34, 35. 



200 Spiritualism 

medium exhibits a persistent aversion to the use of 
recording apparatus : she dislikes smoked paper 
(for taking impressions of finger prints, etc.) ; at 
one seance it is recorded that she fought hard — and 
even bit — to prevent the use of a photographic 
plate.i Even more significant is her treatment of 
two tests recently devised by a circle of Italian 
medical men. At the first sitting a clockwork 
cylinder, covered with blackened paper, was placed 
inside a bell-glass, secured from interference by 
sealed tapes. The object of the test was to obtain 
a vertical mark on the cylinder ; and the key of the 
electric circuit through which this end could be 
accomplished was enclosed In a securely fastened 
and sealed cardboard box. In the event the sealed 
tapes were torn off from the bell-glass ; the lid of 
the cardboard box was forcibly removed, and the 
key then depressed. The test was thus rendered 
useless. Eusapia explained, however, that if woven 
material instead of cardboard had been used to pro- 
tect the key, it could have been moved without 
Interference with the apparatus. Acting on the 
hint the experimenters prepared for the next stance 
a new apparatus. Inside the cabinet was placed a 
manometer — an open tube of mercury with a float- 
ing pointer which would automatically register any 
movements of the mercury on a scale. The tube 
was in connection with a vessel full of water, and 
closed with a rubber capsule. Pressure on the 

' She has allowed some photographs to be taken, but none that I have 
seen add materially to the strength of the evidence. 



Spiritualism 201 

capsule would, of course, force up the mercury in 
the tube. The vessel of water was enclosed in a 
wooden box, the side of which rose high above the 
capsule. The top of the capsule was blackened. 
In place of a lid the box was covered with cloth, so 
as to prevent pressure on the capsule by normal 
means. At the close of the seance the mercury 
was found to have risen ; but the cloth covering 
was torn. The experimenters still attach weight 
to the result of the experiment, on the ground that 
the wooden box was outside the cabinet, so that no 
one could have approached it without being seen. 
They add : '' We do not know why the stuff which 
had covered the wooden box was torn. Certainly 
Eusapia did not understand the importance which 
would have attached to the experiment, if it had 
remained intact." ^ 

It cannot be said that these recent researches have 
done much to strengthen the case for Eusapia's 
genuineness. The phenomena are still of the same 
indeterminate kind ; they take place still under the 
same dubious conditions ; and for their substanti- 
ation we still have to trust entirely to the accurate 
observation of the witnesses, working under con- 
ditions not of their own choosing. Sometimes, as 
above indicated, the circumstances attaching to the 
feats are in themselves extremely suspicious. But 
if we can attach little weight to the records, it is 
impossible not to be impressed by the scientific 
standing and the obvious sincerity of the witnesses. 

' Annals of Psychical Science, May, 1907, p. 385. 



202 Spiritualism 

Professor Richet, Dr. Maxwell, Professor Morselli, 
Professor Foa, and other Italian savants have no 
manner of doubt that they have witnessed in 
Eusapia's presence phenomena inexplicable by any 
known force. If they do not enable us to share 
their conviction, they at any rate compel us to hold 
our judgment in suspense. There is at any rate a 
problem here, for the solution of which we must 
wait. If the things are genuine, we want to know 
how they are done ; if fraudulent, how it is that so 
many competent observers have come to believe in 
their genuineness. 



CHAPTER IX 

ON COMMUNICATION WITH THE DEAD 

OO far the work of naturalisation has proceeded 
^ with smoothness : if we have seen reason to re- 
ject any applicants for admission it is on the ground 
that their credentials are unsatisfactory, not because 
they lie under any suspicion of an alien allegiance. 
If the facts of telepathy are admitted it does not 
yet appear that they carry us beyond the material 
world, the world which includes alike neural pro- 
cesses and ethereal undulations. The same may 
be said, with perhaps some reservations, of the 
alleged physical phenomena of the seance room. 
The exhibitions of materialisation, spirit photo- 
graphy, and slate-writing which found favour a gen- 
eration ago have received no scientific endorsement 
of late years, and are now so generally discredited 
that they need scarcely be considered seriously. 
The manifestations which remain, such as raps, 
movements, and touches, — even if their occurrence 
apart from fraud should be incontrovertibly estab- 
lished, — would not necessarily involve the assump- 
tion of the agency of any "spirit" other than that 
of the medium herself. As already said, the phe- 
nomena, especially as observed in the presence of 
Eusapia Paladino, have led recent Italian experi- 

203 



204 On Communication with the Dead 

menters to revive the theory, originally put forward 
half a century ago by Thury and de Gasparin, of a 
force emanating from the organism of the medium, 
and controlled presumably by her nervous system. 
If such a force should be proved to exist, it will 
afford material for the physicist and the physiologist, 
and will no doubt considerably enlarge our concep- 
tion of the potencies of living bodies. But it was 
not for this that the Society for Psychical Research 
was founded. The distinguished men who in 1882 
associated themselves in the venture were certainly 
not attracted merely by the prospect of enlarging 
the domain of physics or biology. They came 
together In the hope of finding empirical proof of 
the survival of the soul after the death of the body. 
No one who has read Myers's brief autobiography, 
or the Memoir of Henry SIdgwick, can doubt that 
it was this hope which formed the motive power. 
But it is when we approach this subject that the 
real difficulties of psychical research begin. We 
are menaced with opposition from without and 
danger from within. The opposition comes prin- 
cipally from two quarters. There are those who 
feel that the very quest Involves a kind of impiety ; 
that the Ruler of the world has fixed a gulf between 
shore and shore, so that no communication may 
pass from that side to this. 

Nequidquam Deus abscidit 

Prudens Oceano dissociabili 
Terras, si tamen impiae 

Non tangenda rates transiliunt vada. 



On Communication with the Dead 205 

The attitude here indicated is as old as human 
history. It was old enough for Horace to treat it 
half in jest. It has been displayed at every step in 
human progress. There are many of the faithful 
now who would in their hearts join with Imaum 
Ali Zadi in placing all human knowledge under the 
ban. Said the pious Cadi, in refusing an English 
traveller's request for statistical information, *' God 
created the world, and shall we liken ourselves 
unto him in seeking to penetrate the mysteries of 
his creation? Shall we say, behold this star spin- 
neth round that star, and this other star with a 
tail goeth and cometh in so many years ? Let it 
go ! He from whose hand it came will guide and 
direct it." ^ 

On the other hand, those who have not the 
assurance of faith are mostly indifferent — an indif- 
ference which occasionally merges into active hos- 
tility — to any attempt to solve the problem.^ Of 
this indifference there are no doubt many causes. 
But there are two that specially concern us. In the 
first place, the many are indifferent because they 
have no hope of any result from such an enquiry. 
The problem is as old as the world ; but apart from 
the claims of revelation, there is nowhere any hint 
of a solution. But to this it may be answered that 
there has never yet been any serious attempt to find 

* From Layard's Nineveh and Babylon^ quoted by W. James, Principles 
of Psychology y vol. ii., p. 641, note. 

5 See Mr. Schiller's article {Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xviii.,p.4i6) on the 
result of a recent American questionnaire as to the desire for knowledge of a 
future life. 



2o6 On Communication with the Dead 

the solution — at least no serious attempt by modern 
investigators, armed with the latest weapons from 
the scientific armoury. It is a vicious circle : there 
is no effective desire because men have despaired of 
success : and success will only come, in this as in 
any other quest, to men whom the desire of know- 
ledge urges to eager and persistent endeavour. But 
there are indications now that the question is being 
asked more methodically and with more persever- 
ence than ever before. Ten years before the foun- 
dation of the Society for Psychical Research Henry 
Sidgwick wrote : " I sometimes feel with some- 
what of a profound hope and enthusiasm that the 
function of the English mind, with its uncompro- 
mising matter-of-fact-ness, will be to put the final 
question to the Universe with a solid, passionate 
determination to be answered which must come to 
something."^ And since those words were written, 
the enquiry has been steadily pursued and is still 
proceeding. 

But the indifference of the many is also no doubt 
partly due to distrust of the methods of the enquiry, 
and of the temper of the investigators. It has been 
pointed out in the introductory chapter that in the 
early years of the Society the appreciation of the 
evidence was a joint work. Further, the lines of 
work were laid down by the advice and pursued 
under the personal direction of Henry Sidgwick. 
His wisdom, his clear insight, the essential sanity 
of his mind withheld us from rash and premature 

' Memoir, p. 259. 



On Communication with the Dead 207 

conclusions. Of late years individual investigators 
have pursued their separate lines of research ; and it 
may be thought that the will to live, which was so 
dominating an element in the personality of F. W. 
H. Myers and of Richard Hodgson, may unawares 
have influenced their judgment and so have led 
them too hastily to exchange the role of investi- 
gator for that of propagandist. This, in short, is 
the danger from within which must always attend 
upon any enquiry making so intimate and irresist- 
ible an appeal to human hopes and affections. 

A word of caution is perhaps necessary as regards 
the kind of spirit communication to which the facts 
to be cited in the following chapters seem to point. 
If such communication is at all possible, it would 
seem that it is of rare occurrence and beset with 
considerable difficulties ; and further that the com- 
munications themselves are liable to be embar- 
rassed, incoherent, and curiously defective, if not 
actually evasive. Not only do these characteristics 
of the communications, which are to be found es- 
pecially in the trance utterances discussed in Chap- 
ter XIII., necessarily make the desired proof much 
more difficult of attainment, but they inevitably 
suggest suspicions of their mundane source. Dr. 
Hodgson was himself satisfied, after an exhaustive 
study of the trance phenomena, that these sus- 
picious characteristics were not inconsistent with the 
Spiritualist interpretation ; and that in many cases 
they even lend additional support to that hypothe- 
sis; and, speaking generally, those investigators who 



2o8 On Communication with the Dead 

of recent years have given the closest study to the 
case of Mrs. Piper and other automatists have been 
led to attach increasing weight to the hypothesis of 
some form of spirit communication. In any case 
we have clearly no right to lay down a priori the 
standard to which spirit communications should 
conform. Mr. Schiller has some pertinent remarks 
on the characteristic defects and incoherences of 
these trance communications: ''That spirit com- 
munication should be difficult," he says, *' is what I 
should have inferred on physical grounds, that it 
should be rare and exhibit a gradual dimiriMtion of 
interest in and memory of our concerns is precisely 
what I should have inferred on the supposition that 
the human personality takes its known psychologi- 
cal constitution with it. The wonder is rather that 
the deceased should trouble themselves at all about 
us and have leisure to devise means of communica- 
tion with the world they have left. For if we are 
to conceive them as surviving death at all, it must 
be as ipso facto entering into a new and engrossing 
phase of existence (all the more engrossing because 
of its novelty) and as needing to adapt themselves 
to new conditions of existence. And it is not un- 
reasonable to suppose that even if they could effec- 
tively desire to communicate they might not find 
the means available. Hence there need be no trace 
of cynicism in the suggestion that probably the 
dead forget the living far more rapidly even than 
the living forget the dead : it merely expresses a 
psychological necessity. We forget because life 



On Communication with the Dead 209 

absorbs our energies and robs us of the leisure to 
remember ; the departed, if they survive, must for- 
get, because a new Hfe must absorb their energies 
and cut off their associations with the past to an 
indefinitely greater degree. Is there not, there- 
fore, more than a touch of human conceit in the 
imagination which depicts the spirits of the dead as 
having no other function than to hover invisibly 
around the living as futile spectators of the follies 
and the crimes of earth ? Nay, will not the notion 
appear grotesque as soon as we take up a less geo- 
centric position in our eschatology and look at the 
matter from the point of view of the * dead ' ? " ^ 

It is perhaps hardly necessary to claim that the 
possibility of such communication is still an open 
question. The possibility has no doubt been denied. 
" The question is . . . whether departed spirits 
enter into communication with living men by 
mediums and by incarnation. The scientist does 
not admit a compromise ; with regard to this he 
flatly denies the possibility . . . the facts as they 
are claimed do not exist, and never will exist." ^ But 
for most men, whether they claim the title of 
philosopher or no, the possibility of anything can 
only be proved by experience, and until experi- 
ence furnishes adequate material, the only prudent 
course is suspension of judgment. The philosopher 
who, antecedently to experience, should venture 
to pronounce the word ** impossible," even in the 

^Journal, S. P. R., July, 1898, pp. 276, 277. 
^ Munsterberg, Psychology and LifCy p. 252. 



2IO On Communication with the Dead 

region of pure mathematics, would write himself 
down belated. But if we admit that experience only 
can prove or disprove the possibility, we must fur- 
ther recognise that the proof which we are seek- 
ing is not likely to be salient or irresistible. We 
can hardly imagine any single incident which would 
give us satisfactory proof of the survival of a human 
personality. The proof, or disproof, must be in its 
nature cumulative. At a certain stage of the ac- 
cumulation we may say, ** The facts are, no doubt, 
not inconsistent with the hypothesis of the agency 
of the dead ; but there are other interpretations in 
the present state of our knowledge equally adequate 
and at least equally probable." That is the stage at 
which our enquiry would seem now to have arrived. 
We have accumulated a large number of observa- 
tions and experiments, open to various interpreta- 
tions, but open amongst others to this particular 
interpretation, that they indicate in some fashion 
the presence of " dead " men and women. The 
man who at the present stage of the enquiry invites 
us, on the strength — or weakness — of the evidence 
so far available, to acclaim the proof of human im- 
mortality, may be doing serious injury to his own 
cause. But the other man who, because our present 
ignorance does not enable us to decide what is the 
true meaning of these elusive ** seemings," condemns 
the whole enquiry as abortive, has surely no title to 
speak in the name of Science. 

In the chapters which follow I shall aim at pre- 
senting fair samples of the evidences which have 



On Communication with the Dead 211 

been or may be held to point to the agency of the 
dead, and to appreciate, as impartially as I can, their 
present value and significance. The enquiry is still 
proceeding, and, by the consent of all who are en- 
gaged in it, the evidence for any certain conclusion, 
positive or negative, is still insufficient. 



CHAPTER X 

PHANTASMS OF THE DEAD 

IN the next two chapters it is proposed to pass in 
review those spontaneous apparitions — ** ghosts" 
warning dreams, haunted houses — which have been 
held in all ages to indicate the presence of the dead. 
We have already in previous chapters considered 
some instances in which the apparition approx- 
imately coincided with the death of the person 
represented, and have seen that in such a case the 
vision may reasonably be interpreted as originating 
in the mind of a still living agent. Further we have 
seen that in some cases where it can be clearly 
proved that the vision occurred some hours after the 
death, we should yet not be justified in assuming the 
agency of the dead.^ After all reasonable deduc- 
tions have, however, been made, there will be found 
to remain a considerable number of well-attested 
apparitions which prima facie refer rather to the 
dead than to the living. The simplest case of all is 
that in which the fact of the death is announced by 
dream, vision, or inner voice before the news could 
have reached the percipient by normal means, but 
at such an interval after the death as to make the 

' See above p. 141. 

212 



Phantasms of the Dead 213 

supposition of latency no longer tenable. We 
could not of course expect that such cases would 
be as numerous as those in which the dream or 
vision approximately coincides with the death, if for 
no other reason than that generally the news would 
be conveyed, by letter or telegram, to those most 
nearly concerned within a day or two at most. We 
have relatively very few cases of the kind in our col- 
lection ; and even if we grant that the instances 
reported to us have been diminished in number by 
the instinctive tendency, already pointed out, to 
reduce the interval between the death and the 
annunciatory vision, the number is still far too 
small to permit us to found any generalisation upon 
it. For it must be remembered that impressions 
which occur some days or even a week after the 
death offer much more scope for chance coincidence 
than those which fall within twelve hours of the 
death. 

But even if narratives such as those referred to 
were much more numerous than is in fact the case, 
we should still be left in doubt as to their actual 
significance. For we cannot exclude the possibility 
that the percipient's impression may have had its 
origin in the minds of the survivors, mourning over 
the dead. Such an explanation is unmistakably 
indicated by the following narrative. 

No. 42. From Mr. Stephen Peebles^ 

Satank, Colorado, January 2nd, 1894. 
We live on a farm ten miles from Glenwood Springs. At 
* Journal, S. P. R., December, 1895. 



214 Phantasms of the Dead 

Glenwood Springs a Mrs. Walz, whom my wife has known 
for some years, lives with her husband. She was the mother 
of two children, one an infant. This Mrs. Walz, our daughter 
(who is married and lives near us — a mile away), and a Mrs. 
Zimmermann have been, from the time of their first acquaint- 
ance, intimate friends. Mrs. Zimmermann lives four miles 
from us, fourteen miles from Glenwood Springs. 

My wife had not seen Mrs. Walz for months, had not heard 
anything about her for some time, and did not know of any 
sickness in her family. 

On Sunday morning, December 17th, while my wife was 
dressing, and before she had seen or spoken to any one but 
me, she told me of a dream she had had in the night. She 
dreamed that Mrs. Walz's baby was dead, and that she was at 
their house. She wished to do certain work that needed to 
be done in the house, but she was not dressed. While she 
was struggling vainly to get her clothes on, Mrs. Zimmermann 
came into the dream, doing this work. 

It was about six o'clock when my wife told me this. 
About ten o'clock our daughter came in and told us that she 
and her husband had been to Glenwood Springs the day be- 
fore to attend the funeral of Madgie Walz's baby, and that 
Hattie Zimmermann was there doing the work which has to 
be done on such occasions. 

Our son was out that night and heard of the death of the 
child; but he [did not return till one o'clock — long after we 
were in bed — and he was not up, nor had he spoken to his 
mother, when she told me the dream. She heard him come 
in, and she thinks the dream came after that. 

Stephen Peebles. 

Mrs. Peebles writes: 

My husband has read the above to me. My dream was as 
he has told it, and my recollection of the circumstances con- 
nected with my telling jt to him and its verification is as he 
has given them. D. L. Peebles. 



Phantasms of the Dead 215 

Mr. F. M. Peebles, son of the percipient, writes: 

[Satank, Colorado, January 2nd, 1894.] 
I was away from home on that evening of December i6th, 
and was told of the death of the child, which formed the sub- 
ject of my mother's dream. I think this was about eight or 
nine o'clock in the evening, but I did not return home until 
after midnight, and did not speak to my mother about what I 
had heard until near noon the next day. 

Frank M. Peebles. 

Here it will be seen the dream was concerned 
with the domestic cares consequent on the death, 
rather than with the death itself. It would seem 
therefore most probable that the dream originated 
in the mind of the dreamers son or daughter 
who were acquainted with the facts. In any case, 
we should hardly be justified, in default of any 
analogous instance, in invoking the agency of 
the dead infant. 

A similar explanation is indicated in the follow- 
ing case. Mr. Russell, member of a church choir 
in San Francisco, died quite suddenly at ii a.m. 
At 1.30 P.M. the same day a friend went to the 
house of the choirmaster. Whilst he was telling 
the news to the ladies of the household, the choir- 
master himself, who was at the time occupied up- 
stairs, saw an apparition of the deceased.^ Here 
the vision coincided, not with the death, but with 
the recital of it to the relatives of the percipient. 
Again, in each of the five cases which follow the 
percipients impression occurred some time after 

* Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. viii., p. 214. 



21 6 Phantasms of the Dead 

the death, but only a few hours before the receipt 
of the news by normal means. 

No. 43. From Miss Kitching ' 

Miss Kitching, then in Saratoga, N. Y., on the morning of 
the 23rd August, 1888, had in a dream a painful impression 
of the de^i^h of her brother in Algeria. But the death had 
taken place -»n the 20th, and the cablegram announcing it 
had been designedly held over in New York ; from which 
town it was actually despatched to Saratoga a few hours 
after the dream. 

No. 44. From Mrs. G. T. Haly' 

122 CoNiNGHAM Road, Shepherd's Bush, W. 
On waking in broad daylight, I saw, like a shadowed re- 
flection, a very long coffin stretching quite across the ceiling 
of my room, and as I lay gazing at it, and wondering at its 
length and whose death it could foreshadow, my eyes fell on 
a shadowy figure of an absent nephew with his back towards 
me, searching, as it were, in my bookshelf. That morning's 
post brought me the news of his death in Australia. He was 
six foot two or three inches in height, and a book had been my 
last present to him on his leaving England, taken from that 
very bookcase. 

Mr. Gurney saw Mrs. Haly in November, 1884, 
and learnt that this, and an appearance of lights, 
are the only hallucinations of sight Mrs. Haly has 
had, and that she clearly recognised her nephew's 
figure. The event occurred in the winter of 
1872-3, some six weeks after the nephew's death. 
It will be noted that, though the death had occurred 
several weeks previously, the phantasm was not 

* Journal S. P. R., June, 1893. 
^Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. iii., p. gi. 



Phantasms of the Dead 217 

seen until news of the event had reached England 
in the ordinary course of post. 

No. 45. From Mr. George King* 

Mr. George King (November, 1885) on the night of Decem- 
ber 2, 1874, after being present at a Conversazione at King's 
College, London, dreamt that at a brilliant assembly his 
brother advanced towards him. He was in evening dress, 
like all the rest, and was the very image of buoyant health. 
*' I was much surprised to see him, and, going forward to 
meet him, I said : ' Hallo ! D., how are you here ? ' He shook 
me warmly by the hand and replied : * Did you not know I 
have been wrecked again ? ' At these words a deadly f aint- 
ness came over me. I seemed to swim away and sink to the 
ground. After momentary unconsciousness I awoke, and 
found myself in my bed. I was in a cold perspiration, and 
had paroxysms of trembling, which would not be controlled. 
I argued with myself on the absurdity of getting into a panic 
over a dream, but all to no purpose, and for long I could not 
sleep." 

The newspapers on the following morning con- 
tained an account of the foundering of the La 
Plata, the ship in which Mr. King's brother had 
sailed, on November 29th. 

No. 46. From the Rev. G. M. Tandy, Vicar of West 
Ward, Cumberland' 

Mr. Tandy had called upon a friend in a neighbouring 
village and carried away with him a newspaper, still in its 
wrapper. Some hours after returning home he saw a lifelike 
apparition of his intimate friend Canon Robinson. On sub- 
sequently removing the wrapper of the newspaper he found 
an account of the death of Canon Robinson, of which he had 
not previously heard. 

' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. v., p. 455. 
* Ibid, p. 408. 



2i8 Phantasms of the Dead 

No. 47. From Mr. Cameron Grant' 

Mr. Grant, who was at the time up country, in Brazil, had 
on the night of the 24th December, 1885, an impression of 
death, and connected it with a member of Lord Z.'s family. 
On that day Lord Z. died. 

On the 26th January the impression of death was renewed. 
Both the impressions are attested by entries in Mr. Grant's 
diary. 

On the 27th January there is an entry as follows : "Very 
tired, but did not sleep a wink all night. I am sure that 
something has happened to [a member of Lord Z.'s family]. 
I heard every hour strike, and kept thinking of [all the mem- 
bers of the family] but not of the dear old gentleman [/. <f., 
imagining them in sorrow, but not Lord Z. himself]. I got up 
and wanted to draw him. His features seemed before me. I 
had before shown Mr. Catlin a face in the Graphic that was 
like him, also that of a dead man. I had the greatest difficulty 
not to draw his portrait with his head forward and sunk on his 
breast, as if he had been sitting in a room with a window on 
his right hand and an old man-servant ; — and then his head 
just went forward, and he fell asleep. Weeks ago I thought 
of him, — some time about Christmas ; and ever since I have 
been feeling [pity, etc., for members of family]." 

On the next day, Thursday, January 28, 1886, 
Mr. Grant received by accident a Scotch paper in 
which Lord Z.'s death was mentioned, — but ap- 
parently without the precise date. 

I have grouped these five cases together, be- 
cause there would appear to be some connection 
between the percipient's impression and the news 
of the death which followed a few hours later. It 
is not easy to conjecture the precise nature of this 

' Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. viii., p. 212. See also PJiantasms of the 
Living, vol. ii., p. 690, 



Phantasms of the Dead 219 

connection : for we do not know enough of the 
surrounding circumstances. But we may note, as 
probably not without significance, the fact that the 
telepathic message came just at the moment when 
the news of the death was known, or might have 
been known, to persons in the vicinity of the per- 
cipient — that is, when the possibility of thought- 
transference from the living had been established. 

There is a case recorded in Phantasms of the 
Living (vol. i., p. 365), in which Mrs. Menneer saw 
in a dream the body of her brother, Mr. Wellington, 
standing by her bedside, with his head lying on a 
coffin by his side. Mr. Wellington had actually 
been decapitated by the Chinese at about the time 
of the dream — the exact date of the dream cannot 
now be fixed. 

To Mr. Gurney the interpretation of the dream 
on the hypothesis of thought-transference from the 
living presented some difficulties : it seemed neces- 
sary to suppose that Mr. Wellington had dramatised 
his own fate at the moment of death. But we have 
since learnt that the head was given up to Mr. 
Wellington's friends on the following day, and a 
telepathic message from their minds is thus sug- 
gested as a possible explanation.^ 

Several cases have been reported to us in which 
a dying man has seen the figure of a friend, of 
whose death he could not have been aware by or- 
dinary means. In some of these cases the fact was 

* See Mr. Myers*s comments on the case, Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. viii., 
p. 208. See also, in this connection. Cases 39, 40, and 41, Chapter VI. 



220 Phantasms of the Dead 

known to those around the sick-bed, and had been 
dehberately withheld from the patient. In the case 
which follows, however, the fact of the death of the 
person seen in the vision was not apparently known 
to any one in the neighbourhood of the percipient, 
and the hypothesis of thought-transference from 
the living is so far less plausible. It is possible 
that the approach of death may in itself tend, as 
suggested by Mr. Myers, to quicken and stimulate 
our psychical faculties. 

No. 48. From Colonel * 



Writing on the ist March, 1885, Colonel explains that 

about sixteen years previously he had invited Miss Julia X., 
the daughter of his gunmaker, to stay in his house for a week 
in order that she might take part in some singing at the house 
of a neighbour, Mrs. Y. Miss X. gave great pleasure by her 
visit : she was shortly after married, and gave up the idea of 
coming out as a singer. Mrs. Y. apparently never saw her 
again. Some years later, en the 12th of February, 1874, Mrs. 

Y. lay dying, and Colonel had come to talk over some 

business matters with her. She was, he tells us, in thorough 
possession of her senses. " She changed the subject and said : 
* Do you hear those voices singing?' I replied that I did 
not ; and she said: ' I have heard them several times to-day, 
and I am sure they are the angels welcoming me to Heaven ; 
but,' she added, 'it is strange, there is one voice amongst 
them I am sure I know, and cannot remember whose voice it 
is.* Suddenly she stopped and said, pointing straight over 
my head, *VVhy there she is in the corner of the room ; it is 
Julia X.; she is coming on ; she is leaning over you ; she has 
her hands up ; she is praying ; do look ; she is going.' I 
turned but could see nothing. Mrs. Y. then said : ' She is 

* Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. iii., p. 92. 



Phantasms of the Dead 221 

gone.' All these things I imagined to be the phantasies of a 
dying person." 

On the following day Mrs. Y. died. On the day after, the 

14th, Colonel saw in the Times the notice of the death of 

Julia X. (Mrs. Webley). From Mr. Webley we learn that she 
died on the 2nd of February, 1874, and that the last hours of 
her life were spent in singing. 

In the cases so far considered, which occurred 
within, at furthest, a few weeks after death, no in- 
formation has been communicated beyond the fact 
of the death itself, and occasionally the circum- 
stances and manner of the death, or the appearance 
pf the deceased person at the time. But the popu- 
lar conception of a ghost, a returning spirit, includes 
more than this. In traditional stories the spirit 
generally returns to communicate a definite message 
to the survivors. Sometimes the message consists 
simply in the fact of the survival of the soul after 
death; but frequently it is concerned with things 
left undone in his lifetime by the deceased. In 
comparatively few of the narratives collected by us 
do concrete messages of this kind play a part. That 
fact furnishes in itself, of course, strong proof of 
the good faith and scrupulousness of our informants. 
It is clear that they are dealing with matters of 
their own personal experience, and have not given 
rein to their imagination. It will be noticed, in- 
deed, by any one who carefully compares a large 
number of these narratives, that, in the more recent 
cases at any rate, the waking vision is not often 
represented as giving a message of particular im- 
port. The apparition seen with the eyes open may 



222 Phantasms of the Dead 

resemble the dead man, but the resemblance is to 
the figure familiar to the percipient in life. It is, 
in other words, open to us to suppose that the 
clothing and imagery are supplied by the percipi- 
ent's own imagination. There is rarely any novel 
feature of costume ; rarely any communication to 
other senses than that of sight. It is, generally 
speaking, in the narratives which deal with remoter 
experiences that the more sensational details are 
apt to appear. In short, statements written down 
many years after the event to which they relate 
have a tendency to conform more closely to the 
traditional type. But though in the best attested 
accounts of waking hallucinations we can find few 
parallels to the repentant monk, the troubled miser, 
or the conscientious debtor of the popular imagina- 
tion, we do in dreams find many cases where pur- 
pose and knowledge are shown which apparently 
point to the agency of the deceased. That such 
indications practically occur only in dreams is not 
in itself a suspicious circumstance. Dreams no 
doubt, as already pointed out, have less ostensive 
value than waking visions, because of the greater 
scope for chance coincidence. But, on the other 
hand, we have good reason to believe that tele- 
pathic communication of all kinds is most readily 
established when, as in sleep or trance, the faculties 
which deal with the life of relation are in abeyance. 
We have no reason therefore for distrusting the 
accuracy of a dream story, on the sole ground that it 
imports sensational features of the kind referred to. 



Phantasms of the Dead 223 

I propose to cite a few narratives in which in- 
formation purporting to proceed from a deceased 
person, and beyond the conscious knowledge of 
the recipient, was communicated in dream or some 
allied state. It is of course impossible in any case 
of this kind to be absolutely satisfied that the infor- 
mation was not already latent in the dreamer's mind. 
We know of many cases in which impressions, after 
remaining latent through a period of weeks or even 
years, have ultimately emerged in sleep, crystal 
vision, or other form of automatism. But the reader 
will probably agree that in some of the narratives 
quoted such an explanation is at least improbable; 
and that the accumulation of a large number of 
similar instances would furnish an argument of some 
weight for the survival of human personality after 
the death of the body. The hypothesis of the 
emergence of latent memory can no doubt be ap- 
plied in the following case. 

No. 49. From Professor Dolbear * 

Mr. Dolbear, Professor of Physics at Tufts College, Mass., 
dreamt one night that he saw and spoke to a deceased acquain- 
tance, Mr. Farmer, an electrician. In his dream Professor 
Dolbear asked for a test of identity, and Farmer held out his 
left hand, with the fingers bent in a very extraordinary way. 
On his relating the dream to Miss Farmer, Professor Dolbear 
learnt that this particular disposition of the fingers was a com- 
mon trick on the part of the dead man. Professor Dolbear had, 
however, no recollection of ever seeing such a trick, and as his 
acquaintance with Mr. Farmer was purely on a business foot- 
ing, he thinks it unlikely that he had actually seen it. 

* Jourfial, S. P. R., October, 1897. 



2 24 Phantasms of the Dead 

In the following case the hypothesis of the re- 
vival in dream of a latent impression involves per- 
haps a higher degree of improbability. 

Miss Whiting, the narrator, had been an intimate 
friend of Kate Field, the well-known American 
journalist, and was in 1899 bringing out a life of 
her deceased friend. Miss Whiting believes that 
she has frequently held communication with the 
spirit of Kate Field. 

No. 50. From Miss Lilian Whiting* 

8th August, 1899. 

Between 2 and 3 a.m., August 4th, Kate wakened me, speak- 
ing to me excitedly about a " letter of Lowell's " to her. All 
was confused and rapid, but at last I caught clearly: "In K. 
F*5 W. — in my Washington, Lilian ; look in my Washington.'* 
Then I vaguely recalled that Lowell had written her a letter 
in re International Copyright, which she had published in her 
journal, and which I had already included in her biography, 
so I replied to her: " Yes, darling, I know — the letter is in the 
book. It 's all right." 

Again an excited and rapid speaking, of which I only caught 
here and there a word, but — partly from impression, and al- 
most impulsion — I rose, went out into my parlour, turned on 
the electric light, and took the five bound volumes of her K. F's 
W. down from my shelves. Half automatically I seemed to be 
guided (for I had totally forgotten its existence) to a letter 
that Lowell wrote to her in 1879, when he was American Min- 
ister to Spain — writing from Madrid, and she in London — and 
which, on his death, she had published in her Washingtoti. 

[Miss "Whiting explains that the letter was of considerable 
literary interest, and then adds :] As the original letter was 
not among Miss Field's MSS., and as I had totally forgotten it 
(I don't, even now, recall seeing it, though I must have at the 

> Journal, S. P. R.. December, 1899. 



Phantasms of the Dead 225 

time), this very important letter would have been left out of 
her biography, had she not thus called me and led me to it. 
There was barely time to get [it] in before the first casting 
of the proofs. I went with it myself out to the University 
Press the next morning to see where I could now introduce it 
in the part of proofs not yet cast — as I couldn't even delay for 
the mail. Miss Field's waking me, — her urgent and excited 
and forcible manner and words, — were just as real to me as 
would have been [those] of some friend in this world coming 
to my bedside in the night. L. W. 

On a first reading Miss Whiting's interpretation 
of this dramatic incident would appear to be the 
most probable. But a case which offers many points 
of similarity has been put on record by Dr. Hilprecht, 
Professor of Assyrian at the University of Pennsyl- 
vania. After puzzling over the inscription on two 
fragments of agate from the temple of Bel, at Nippur, 
he fell asleep and dreamt that the priest of Bel ap- 
peared to him, led him into the treasure chamber of 
the temple, and then gave him the history of the two 
fragments and an interpretation of the inscription. 
This interpretation, the next day he found to be 
correct. Here there can be little doubt that the 
revelation made in the dream was but the final result 
of the dreamers own processes of unconscious 
cerebration, and the priestly visitant only a puppet 
in the drama. ^ 

It is more difficult in the next case to apply the 
hypothesis of latent knowledge, though Professor 
Alexander, who procured the narrative for us, writes 

' Quoted in Proceedings, S. P. R., vol, xii., p. ii. 
15 



226 Phantasms of the Dead 

that the incident Is '' of a type rather frequent 
among Brazilian CathoHcs." 

No. 51. From Donna Nery * 

Barbacena, March 26th, 1895. 

In January, 1894, the decease occurred of F^licit^ G., a 
young Belgian lady, who was married to a nephew of mine. 
After the death of his wife, the latter came to our house at 
Barbacena, bringing with him much luggage belonging to the 
deceased, and he stayed here with his children for some days. 

Some two months afterwards — 1 have no means of ascertain- 
ing the exact date — I went to a soirie and returned home 
about 2 o'clock in the morning, having passed some pleasant 
hours in which all thoughts of sadness were temporarily swept 
from my memory. On that very night, however, I had a vivid 
dream of F^licite. It seemed to me that she entered the room 
where I really lay asleep, and, sitting down on the bedside, 
asked me, as a favour, to look into an old tin box under the 
staircase for a certain wax candle, which had been already 
lighted, and which she had promised to Our Lady. On my 
consenting to do so, she took leave of me, saying, " Ati outro 
mundo (Till the other world)."' I awoke from the dream 
much impressed. It was still dark, but I could no longer 
sleep. 

On that day, the others having gone out, I called a servant 
and ordered her to search in the tin box, which had, in fact, 
been placed under the staircase, and which had belonged to 
Felicity. No one had opened the box before. It was full of 
old clothes and cuttings, among which it was by no means 
probable that we should find a wax candle. The servant 
turned over these clothes, at first without result, and I was al- 
ready beginning to think that my dream was of no importance, 
when, on straightening out the clothes so that the box might 
be closed, I saw the end of a candle, which I at once ordered 

' Journal, S. P. R., January, 1896. 

''"Till soon," '*Till to-morrow," "Till the return," etc.. aie the 
expressions generally used in Brazilian leave-taking. — A. A. 



Phantasms of the Dead 227 

her to take out. It was of wax — of the kind used for promises 
[to saints] — and, what was a still more singular coincidence, it 
had already been lighted. 

We delivered the candle to Monsenhor Jose Augusto, of 
Barbacena, in performance of my niece's pious vow thus 
curiously revealed in a dream. 

(Signed) Guilhermina Nery. 

Senhor Nery writes : 

Barbacena, March 26th, 1895. 
I recollect that, on the occasion, my wife told me of the 
dream, much impressed by it. It is exactly what is written. 

(Signed) Domingos Nery. 

The next case comes to us from America. The 
facts were carefully investigated within a few weeks 
of the occurrence by Dr. Hodgson, and there seems 
no ground for doubting that the dream actually oc- 
curred as stated. The following account extracted 
from a local newspaper was written by a member of 
the staff who happened to enter the coroner's office 
a few minutes after the son of the dead man, who 
had returned to Dubuque on the strength of his 
sister's dream, had searched the clothes, and found 
the money. The reporter heard the facts both 
from the son and from the coroner. 

No. 52. From " The Herald," Dubuque, Iowa * 

February nth, 1891. 
It will be remembered that on February 2nd, Michael Con- 
ley, a farmer living near Ionia, Chickasaw County, was found 
dead in an outhouse at the Jefferson house. He was carried 
to Coroner Hoffmann's morgue, where, after the inquest, his 
body was prepared for shipment to his late home. The old 

> Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. viii., pp. 200, 201. 



228 Phantasms of the Dead 

clothes which he wore were covered with filth from the place 
where he was found and they were thrown outside the morgue 
on the ground. 

His son came from Ionia and took the corpse home. When 
he reached there and one of the daughters was told that her 
father was dead, she fell into a swoon, in which she remained 
for several hours. When at last she was brought from the 
swoon, she said, " Where are father's old clothes ? He has 
just appeared to me dressed in a white shirt, black clothes, 
and felt [misreported for saft'n] slippers, and told me that 
after leaving home he sewed a large roll of bills inside his 
grey shirt with a piece of my red dress and the money is still 
there." In a short time she fell into another swoon and when 
out of it demanded that somebody go to Dubuque and get the 
clothes. She was deathly sick, and is so yet. 

The entire family considered it only a hallucination, but 
the physician advised them to get the clothes, as it might set 
her mind at rest. The son telephoned Coroner Hoffmann 
asking if the clothes were still in his possession. He looked 
and found them in the backyard, although he had supposed 
they were thrown in the vault as he had intended. He an- 
swered that he still had them, and on being told that the son 
would come to get them, they were wrapped in a bundle. 

The young man arrived last Monday afternoon and told 
Coroner Hoffmann what his sister had said. Mr. Hoff- 
mann admitted that the lady had described the identical 
burial garb in which her father was clad, even to the slippers, 
although she never saw him after death, and none of the family 
had seen more than his face through the coffin lid. Curiosity 
being fully aroused, they took the grey shirt from the bundle 
and within the bosom found a large roll of bills sewed with a 
piece of red cloth. The young man said his sister had a red 
dress exactly like it. The stitches were large and irregular, 
and looked to be those of a man. The son wrapped up the 
garments and took them home with him yesterday morning^ 
filled with wonder at the supernatural revelation made to his 
sister, who is at present lingering between life and death. 



Phantasms of the Dead 229 

The coroner and the other persons concerned 
have confirmed the accuracy of the newspaper ac- 
count. The percipient, though unwilHng to write 
out her version of the incident, has related the 
dream in similar terms to Mr. Amos Crum, the 
pastor of a neighbouring church. 

There is another class of evidence ior post-mortem 
agency which may briefly be referred to here. Sev- 
eral cases have been investigated by us in which the 
body of a drowned man has, after fruitless search 
by ordinary means, been at length discovered 
through a dream. A typical case of the kind oc- 
curred at New Lambton (County Durham) in Jan- 
uary, 1902. A police constable in the neighbourhood 
had disappeared on the night of the 4th January. 
For the next four days the neighbourhood was 
thoroughly searched, some thirty or forty constables 
assisting. On the 8th January a friend of the miss- 
ing constable dreamt that he saw the body in a 
particular spot in a stream running through a wood. 
The next day, after mentioning his dream to several 
persons, he went to the spot indicated, thrust a long 
pole into the water, and raised the body.^ 

Of the facts there can be no question. But the 
dreamer had actually taken part in the search along 
the banks of this very stream ; and we cannot, there- 
fore, exclude the possibility that some indication 
had been perceived subconsciously which first re- 
ceived full recognition in the dream. However, 
the incident, as said, is by no means an isolated one, 

^ Journal^ S. P. R., November, 1902. 



230 Phantasms of the Dead 

and the hypothesis of subconscious perception be- 
comes less plausible the more numerous the instances 
which it is invoked to cover. In the next chapter 
we shall have to consider a case in which the skele- 
ton of a man murdered forty years previously was 
discovered through a persistent dream. 

So far we have passed in review examples of 
messages purporting to emanate from the dead, in 
which the proof of such origin consists in the in- 
formation, whether as to the death itself, or as to 
some other fact presumably known only to the de- 
ceased, which was conveyed by the message. We 
have now to consider an important class of cases in 
which the apparition is seen by two or more persons 
simultaneously — " collective " apparitions, as they 
are conveniently termed. ^ 

The fact that the phantasm is seen by more than 
one person at the same moment inevitably suggests 
that the apparition is In some sense objective ; 2. ^., 
that it has a cause external to the minds of all the 
percipients. But even when two or three witnesses 
are prepared to attest the reality of the vision, It 
would be difficult now to maintain the older view 
that the thing seen is objective In the sense of being 
material, or even quasi-material, astral, metetherial, 
or whatever other name may be found for the 
hypothetical substance. Whatever the cause of the 
apparition, it will probably be recognised that it is 

• For the sake of convenience the case of collective visual hallucinations 
only is considered in the text. For examples of collective auditory hallu- 
cinations, see the Census Report {^Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. x., pp. 315-17). 



Phantasms of the Dead 



231 



in substance a hallucination — the stuff of which 
dreams are made — and has no more materiality, or 
quasi-materiality, than they. 

Collective hallucinations, or what purport to be 
such, though far less common than solitary hallu- 
cinations, are still fairly numerous. In the Census 
95 visual cases were reported at first hand, as com- 
pared with 992 cases of unshared hallucinations. 
The following table shows the nature of the collec- 
tive hallucinations reported in the Census. 

Collective Visual Hallucinations, divided according to con- 
ditions OF perception ^ 





Percip- 
ients 
in bed. 


Percip- 
ients up 
and in- 
doors. 


Seen 
out of 
doors. 


Totals 


Realistic human apparitions of living persons 
'* " dead persons 
" *' unrecognised 

Incompletely developed apparitions 


3 

2 
4 

I 

I 


10 
6 

3 

I 

5 


14 
2 

17 
4 

2 
I 

I 
I 


27 

8 

32 

12 

3 
4 
I 
2 
6 


Visions . ... ••• •>•....••. « 


Angels and religious apparitions or visions 
Apparitions, grotesque, horrible, or monstrous 
*' of animals 


** of definite inanimate objects 
'* ©flights 


** of indefinite objects 




Totals 


II 


42 


42 


95 





^Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. x., p. 414. 



2 32 Phantasms of the Dead 

From this total, however, of 95 cases large de- 
ductions should be made. In only 43 of the cases 
have we received testimony from a second percip- 
ient ; and it is practically certain that in some cases 
the narrator's memory is at fault in assuming that 
his experience was shared. Further, the large pro- 
portion of collective hallucinations seen out of doors 
(33 out of 67 apparitions of the human form) sug- 
gests that in many cases the hallucinatory character 
of the experience may have been too hastily as- 
sumed. The figure may have been a real person. 

Again, in some cases it seems possible that the 
experience may have been of the nature of an 
illusion rather than a hallucination — a misinterpre- 
tation of some actual sense impression occurring to 
both percipients simultaneously. Or again, the 
similarity of the impressions reported by different 
percipients may have been due to verbal sug- 
gestion. This explanation Is especially applicable 
when the vision, as in one of the cases cited below, 
lasted for several minutes. 

But when ample allowance has been made on 
these accounts, enough well evidenced cases remain, 
both in the Census and outside of it, to compel us 
to search for some other explanation than those 
indicated above. If the existence, then, of a class 
of collectively perceived hallucinations is admitted, 
there are, apart from verbal suggestion, two con- 
ceivable explanations: (i) The apparition maybe 
due to a cause external to the minds of all the 
percipients, or (2) it may originate in the mind 



Phantasms of the Dead 233 

of one of those present, and be transferred tele- 
pathically to the rest. In the latter case, the vision 
may have no objective significance, and may testify 
to no reaHty. It is obvious that, in the case of 
apparitions representing the dead, we have no 
criterion which will enable us to decide between 
these alternative explanations. At most, we can 
determine upon which side the balance of proba- 
bility lies, by considering the whole of the evidence. 

In the first place, then, we may note that col- 
lective visions are occasionally concerned with 
inanimate objects — e.g., a chair, or a skeleton, — or 
with animals. We have several cases in which 
apparitions of animals, a cat, or a bull, have been 
seen by two witnesses simultaneously. We have 
also many cases of lights seen collectively. We 
have an interesting experimental case in which two 
young ladies saw the same imaginary scene in a 
crystal — pyramids and a train of camels.^ 

Further, it will be seen from the Census table that 
nearly half the human apparitions seen represented 
persons unknown to the percipients. Again, collect- 
ive apparitions of the living, which constitute more 
than three fourths of the recognised apparitions 
shown in the table, are not as a rule seen under 
circumstances such as to suggest the agency of 
the person represented. A typical case is quoted 
in the Census Report.^ Two sisters, playing 
the harmonium in an empty church, saw the 

* Journal, S. P. R., November, igoi, p. 134. 
^ Proceedings y vol. x., p. 306. 



234 Phantasms of the Dead 

figure of a third sister walk up the church and 
mysteriously disappear. The third sister had ac- 
companied them to the Rectory, and, as appeared 
subsequently, had spent most of the afternoon in the 
library. She had, indeed, gone to the church gate 
with the intention of entering, but had turned back. 
It would seem extravagant to suppose that her 
easily abandoned intention had wrought such an 
impression upon the minds of her sisters as to 
cause a hallucinatory apparition of herself. And in 
many cases of collective hallucinations there is no 
apparent connection of any kind between the per- 
cipients' experience, and the condition of the living 
person whose phantasmal likeness is seen. 

All these considerations point to the conclusion 
that, in the great majority of cases, at any rate, 
the collectively seen apparition has no point of 
interest beyond its collectivity ; that it is, in fact, no 
more significant than the ordinary casual hallucina- 
tion, from which it is distinguished merely by the 
fact that, owing to favouring circumstances, it is 
telepathically transferred to another mind. But 
obviously in the present state of our knowledge 
such a conclusion can only be tentative, and the 
reader must judge for himself how far the cases to 
be cited justify provisionally the assumption of 
post-mortem agency. 

The following account, which was procured for 
us by the Rev. A. Holborn, will serve to illustrate 
the type. The ladies, who are well-known to Mr. 
Holborn, withhold their names, at the request of 



Phantasms of the Dead 235 

the surviving relatives of the Httle boy. The state- 
ment is signed by both ladies. 

No. 53' 

A little friend of ours, H. G., had been ill a long time. His 
mother, who was my greatest friend, had nursed her boy with 
infinite care, and during her short last illness was full of 
solicitude for him. 

After her death he seemed to become stronger for a time, 
but again grew very ill, and needed the most constant care, 
his eldest sister watching over him as the mother had done. 
As I was on the most intimate terms with the family, I saw a 
great deal of the invalid. 

On Sunday evening, June 28th, 1903, about nine o'clock, I 
and the sister were standing at the foot of the bed, watching 
the sick one, who was unconscious, when suddenly I saw the 
mother distinctly. She was in her ordinary dress as when 
with us, nothing supernatural in her appearance. She was 
bending over her boy with a look of infinite love, and longing 
and did not seem to notice us. After a minute or two she 
quietly and suddenly was not there. I was so struck that I 
turned to speak to the sister, but she seemed so engrossed 
that I did not think it wise to say anything. 

The little patient grew gradually worse, until on Tuesday 
evening, June 30th, I was summoned to go at once. When I 
arrived at the house he had passed away. After rendering 
the last offices of love to the dear little body, the sister and I 

again stood, as on the Sunday, when I said, " M , I had a 

strange experience on Sunday evening here." She quickly 
replied, "Yes, mother was here ; I saw her." The young girl 
is not given to fancies at all, and must have been impressed 
as I was. 

As said, the interpretation of the vision is am- 
biguous. In the remarkable case of Frances 

* Journal^ S. P. R., February, 1904, p. 187. 



236 Phantasms of the Dead 

Reddell, the vision seen by the watcher at the death- 
bed was that of a hving woman, the patient's 
mother. Frances Reddell, a servant of Mrs. Pole 
Carew, when nursing a fellow-servant, who was 
dying of typhoid fever, heard a bell ring, and then 
"heard the door open, and looking round, saw a 
very stout old woman walk in. She was dressed in 
a nightgown and red flannel petticoat, and carried 
an old-fashioned brass candlestick in her hand. 
The petticoat had a hole rubbed in it." The vision 
then disappeared. The sick girl died a few hours 
later, and when the mother attended the funeral, 
Frances Reddell and Mrs. Pole Carew, to whom 
she had told the story, recognised in her the 
original of the apparition.^ 

It is difficult to explain this case except on the 
supposition that the dying girl's dream was some- 
how impressed upon the mind of the watcher by 
the bedside ; and the possibility of a similar ex- 
planation cannot, of course, be precluded when the 
figure seen is that of the dead. 

In the following narrative several figures are re- 
ported to have been seen, some recognised as those 
of the dead or the living, some unrecognised by 
any of those present. The case was sent to us by 
Mrs. H. J. Wilson, an Associate of the Society, of 
12 Cheyne Court, Chelsea, London, S. W., who is 
intimately acquainted with all the witnesses. We 
are requested to print their initials only, but the 
full names have been given to us. Mrs. C, the 

' See my Apparitions and Thought Transference, p. 306. 



Phantasms of the Dead 237 

medium mentioned, is not a professional medium, 
but a friend of the other ladies. 

The incident took place in May, 1904, and the 
first account we give is copied from a letter written 
shortly afterwards by Mrs. A. to Mrs. Wilson, as 
follows : 

No. 54. From Mrs. A.' 

It was in my bedroom at B , Switzerland. Mrs. C 

was the medium. She was seated facing the long mirror in 
my wardrobe, and we, that is C. [Mrs. P., sister of Mrs. A.], 
A. [the daughter of Mrs. A.], Mrs. H., and myself, were 

seated just behind her, also facing the mirror, Mrs. C 

was not in trance. In a very short time we saw my father's 
face form over Mrs. C.'s face (in the mirror), and then S.'s 
face, two or three times following. She was smiling and look- 
ing hard at us, her two sisters. Then she faded away, and a 
long corridor came, with a large hall or room at the end of it, 
brilliantly lighted up. Many figures were walking about, but 
my figure and E.'s [Mrs. A.'s son] were most prominent — 
there was no mistaking them. I recognised my own figure 
walking about, and leaning forward to talk. That was all, as 
it was rather late, and time to go to bed. 

S., the sister of Mrs. A. and Mrs. P., had died in 
March, 1904; E., the son of Mrs. A., was living at 
the time, and in London. 

The account of the other sister, Mrs. P., was 
dictated by her to Mrs. Wilson, and sent to us en- 
closed in a letter from Mrs. Wilson, dated October 
3rd, 1904. It is as follows : 

It was at B , about May ist, 1904, at 8.30 p.m. The 

electric light was full on all the time, shaded only by a piece 
of silver tissue paper. There were present Mrs. C (the 

* Journal^ S. P. R., February, 1905, pp. 17-19. 



238 Phantasms of the Dead 

medium), Mrs. A , A., Mrs. H , and myself. Mrs. C. 

sat in front of a mirror, Mrs. A. and I sat just behind her, and 
the other two to right and left of us respectively. Behind us 
was the bedroom wall, and a washing stand against that, with 
a small mirror over it. The medium was not entranced. I 

saw S 's face form on Mrs. C 's face, followed by that 

of old Mrs. P . Then came a full-length figure of my 

father in the mirror, in his robes, very like the portrait. He 
looked benignant and rested^ with lines of face much smoothed 
away. This faded, and then all perceived a long passage in 
the mirror, at a guess, about 25 feet long, with bay window at 
the end, and sunshine streaming through. There was a win- 
dow seat, and two figures standing by it, unrecognisable. 
Then a third figure appeared, also unrecognisable. They 
seemed to look out of window and converse. Medium then 
became tired. 

The next account, written In October, 1904, Is 
from Miss A., and is as follows : 

Mother, Mrs. C , Aunt C [Mrs. P.], another lady, 

and myself, were all seated in front of a large pier glass, Mrs. 

C (the medium) being slightly nearer the glass (say 3 

inches) than the rest of us. The gas was turned down to 
about half its strength. Presently, after sitting ten minutes or 
so, we saw what appeared to be a white mist rising up in front 
of the medium's reflection, and it finally resolved into a good 
and distinct likeness of Grandad. When we recognised it the 
figure smiled and nodded its head. Then a likeness of Aunt 
S appeared, not so distinct, but perfectly easy of recogni- 
tion, after which a lady appeared unknown to four of us, but 
recognised by the lady who was sitting with us. 

For a time we saw nothing but mist again, but it gradually 
cleared, and a long corridor became visible with a door at the 
further end evidently opened inwards, and screened on the 
side nearest us by looped curtains, through which we saw into 
a brilliantly lighted room, whether bright sunlight or artificial 



Phantasms of the Dead 239 

light we could not tell. Figures too distant to be recognised 
came and went in the room, and once a girl in what appeared 
to be bridal dress stood just behind the opening of the cur- 
tain. Then the doors appeared to be shut for a time, but 
presently opened, and two figures pushed aside the curtains 
and came down the corridor towards us talking. We recog- 
nised them as Mother and E . Then the picture faded 

again, and we closed the sitting. This is to the best of my 
recollection, but as I took no notes at the time, I may easily 
have forgotten details. 

In answer to further questions Miss A. writes : 

October 14th, 1904. 

The likenesses were formed on Mrs. C 's image in the 

glass, as it were, transforming her features into those of the 
persons represented. Her own face, as distinct from the im- 
age, was unchanged, except that the eyes were closed, while 
the faces in the glass all had their eyes open. This is an in- 
teresting point, I think. 

The fourth witness, Mrs.H., dictated her account 
to Mrs. Wilson in the early part of November, 
1904, as follows : 

I first saw the head and shoulders of an old clergyman with 
grey hair — no beard ; he wore the old-fashioned " Geneva 
bands " that the clergy used to wear. I did not recognise 

him, but heard Mrs. P and Mrs. A say it was their 

father. I did not see him on the medium's face, but in a 
corner of the mirror, apart from the medium. I also heard 

Mrs. P and Mrs. A say that they saw their sister, but 

I did not see her. After this we saw a ball-room in the mir- 
ror, very brightly lighted, with people walking about in it. I 
did not recognise any of them. I ought to have said that at 
first I saw a curtain across the room, and it was when it was 
withdrawn that I saw the people walking about. 

The room we were sitting in was lighted by a candle. 



240 Phantasms of the Dead 

This curious case is unique in our collection. 
But it is clearly analogous to a crystal vision ; and 
we have, as already indicated, one or two cases of 
collective vision in a crystal. All the accounts are 
fairly recent, and they present, it will be seen, a 
general agreement. There are indeed certain dis- 
crepancies, especially as to the lighting of the 
room, which is diversely described as electric light, 
gas, and a candle. There are differences too in the 
description of the persons seen, but these may have 
been due to differences in the details of the visions 
actually seen by the percipients. It is stated that 
Mrs. C, the medium, kept her eyes closed and did 
not speak at all throughout the sitting. But the 
other ladies described to each other what they 
were seeing, and it is probable that the several 
visions may have been by this means brought into 
closer conformity. It is difficult to suppose, how- 
ever, that the whole of the scenes described origin- 
ated in the verbal suggestion of one of those 
present. It is to be regretted that the accounts 
do not give more precise details as to the nature 
and relative position of the light ; it seems possible 
that shadows or reflections on the surface of the 
mirror may have formed a basis upon which the 
complex scenes described could be built up, un- 
der the joint influence of verbal and telepathic 
suggestion. 

In the next case, again, we cannot altogether ex- 
clude the influence of verbal suggestion ; since the 
apparition remained visible for an appreciable 



Phantasms of the Dead 241 

length of time ; and the percipients discussed as 
they approached it the nature of the appearance. 
Moreover, though the accounts here given are 
stated to have been written independently, it is 
probable that in the interval of some years which 
elapsed before the incident was committed to 
writing the details were fully discussed by the 
percipients, and the remarkable uniformity in their 
descriptions should not therefore be given undue 
weight. 

It is a point of interest in the case that the 
scene of the apparition was the park attached to 
an Elizabethan Manor House, in which several 
"ghosts" had been seen in a period covering some 
years. The figure seen in the present case, how- 
ever, bore no resemblance to any of the ghostly 
figures seen in the house itself. One of the percip- 
ients. Miss Eglantine Russell, had on several oc- 
casions seen hallucinatory figures (a dog and a 
human form) in the house. 

No. 55. From Miss Eglantine Russell* 

August, 1904. 
On December 22nd, 1897, I was walking through the fields 
near the house with my sisters, Edith and Rose (both older 
than myself). It was quite a sunny afternoon, between three 
and four o'clock. Resting at a fence we stopped to talk, 
myself sitting on the top railing, the others standing below. 
Looking across the corner of the field by an oak tree in the 
fence, I remember seeing an object, but listening to the others 
talking, I didn't take much notice whether it was man, horse, 

^Journal, S. P. R., April, 1907, pp. 62, 63. All the names are assumed, as 
it is not thought desirable that the locality should be identified. 
z6 



242 Phantasms of the Dead 

or cow. Presently Rose, looking up, said, " There 's one of 
the boys," looking across in the same direction. "Yes," I 
replied, "I thought I saw them." " No, it is n't," Rose con- 
tinued ; " it 's a man. Who is it, I wonder ? Who can be 
wandering about up here? We 'd better go and see." We 
started for the other hedge, which was, I should think, about 
50 yards distant. We had a fox terrier with us ; he growled, 
and his ruff stood up, and he refused to come. I cannot now 
remember whether my sister Edith walked across with us, or, 
being nervous, stayed by the fence. My impression is she 
came, but a trifle behind Rose and myself. Walking closer, I 
saw that it was a man, hanging apparently from an oak tree in 
front of some railings over a ditch. He was dressed in brown 
rather brighter than the colour of brown holland ; he did not 
seem to have a regular coat, but more of a loose blouse. One 
thing I most distinctly recall is his heavy clumsy boots. His 
face we could not see ; there was something white over it. 
The head hung forward, and the arms drooped forward too. 
Coming within about 15 yards I saw the shadow of the railings 
through him, one bar across the shoulders, one bar about his 
waist, and one almost at his knees, quite distinct, but faint. I 
have a remembrance of a big, very black shadow in the back- 
ground. At about 15 yards the whole thing disappeared 
absolutely. We went to the railing and looked over a clear 
field beyond, which would give no possible cover to any one 
trying to hide. Walking back to where we had first seen it we 
saw nothing but an oak tree by railings in a fence. While I 
saw it my only feeling, I remember, was intense curiosity to 
see what it was, — one seemed impelled to go forward ; after- 
wards, sickening terror. 

This is some years ago, but writing brings it all back to me. 
There may be some details I have forgotten ; but this is the 
account as it stands clearly in my mind. 

Miss Edith Russell (now Mrs. Shaw) writes : 

I am writing down exactly what I saw, in conjunction with 

my two sisters. 



Phantasms of the Dead 243 

It was on Dec. 23rd, 1897 (?). We were walking across 
some fields to meet my brothers who were out shooting with a 
neighbour. We stopped to wait for them, and sat on a fence 
half way across a field about 80 or 90 yards wide. My young- 
est sister suddenly remarked that there was a man looking over 
the fence at the far end of the field. I made some answer as 
to its probably being one of the boys. Presently my other 
sister said, " There is a man there," or words to that effect, and 
I looked up, and distinctly saw what looked like a man leaning 
over the fence. We then said we would find out what it was, 
and all three walked in a row towards the figure. When within 
about 20 yards, my youngest sister said, ** Look at his legs ! " 
I remarked to my other sister, " What is it ? I don't like it." 
We walked on, after having said we would report to each 
other what we saw, as we went. This is what we all three 
saw : a man's figure hanging from a branch of an oak tree, his 
arms and legs dangling apparently helplessly, and his head 
hung forward, but it was covered with something white. We 
could see the railings which ran behind the oak tree through 
the figure. When we got within 10 yards, my sister said, 
** Why, it 's gone." We stopped and looked, and there was 
nothing to be seen but the oak tree and fence. It was a very 
bright sunny afternoon; there was a little snow on the ground. 

One thing struck us as odd, for between the sun and the oak 
tree was a great black shadow, which we could not account 
for, as in the ordinary course of events the shadow would be 
on the opposite side of the tree to where the sun was. 

This is absolutely true, and I have put it down just as I 
remember it. 

The mother of the two ladles, in enclosing the 
above accounts, stated that they were written in- 
dependently of each other. She adds that the 
third daughter is unwilling to write down her ver- 
sion ; but Mrs. furnishes her own recollection 

of what she heard from this daughter at the time. 



244 Phantasms of the Dead 

Her account corresponds with those given above. 

Mrs. adds that there is a vague legend that 

some one was murdered somewhere near. There 
is nothing, however, to throw any hght upon the 
origin of the curious vision. It appears, however, 
from all three accounts that the first person to see 
the apparition was Miss Eglantine, the only one of 
the sisters who appears to have seen any of the 
ghostly figures in the house. On the hypothesis 
that the vision was a hallucination self-engendered 
in the mind of one of the percipients, we may assume, 
therefore, that it originated with Miss Eglantine. 



CHAPTER XI 

HAUNTED HOUSES 

IN the last chapter we have dealt with messages 
from the dead of a personal character. The 
dream or vision has represented some one known 
when alive to the dreamer, and on familiar terms 
with him.^ The cause of the percipience — the 
reason why the vision was seen by that particular 
person, and not by the man in the street — must in 
the cases hitherto considered be sought in the 
bonds of personal affection or relationship. And 
the same principle applies to the messages from 
the living dealt with in the earlier chapters of this 
book. The apparition of the dying man is seen as 
a rule by some one amongst his closest friends. 
But even in the case of apparitions of the dying 
we find some records, relatively few, but still too 
numerous to be summarily dismissed, in which the 
tie between the dying man and the percipient 
was not one of affection or blood, but apparently 
of locality. Several cases have been published in 
Phantasms of the Living, in which the figure of 
the dying man or woman was seen in the house 

' Case No. 55 is, of course, an exception. 

245 



246 Haunted Houses 

of an intimate friend, but seen by a comparative 
stranger. 1 

The following case amongst our more recent 
records will serve to illustrate the type : 
No. 56. From Mrs. Benecke^ 

Mr. E. F. M. Benecke, an Exhibitioner of Balliol 
College, Oxford, was a good Alpine climber, and 
was at the time of his death collaborating in a 
Guide to the Swiss Alps. On the i6th July, 1895, 
he started with a friend, Mr. Cohen, at 3 o'clock 
A. M., from Ried for a short climb, and was never 
seen again. On the early afternoon of that day he 
was seen with a companion walking in his mother s 
garden in England. The percipient was Ellen 
Carter, now Mrs. Nichols, a daughter of Mrs. 
Benecke's laundress, who has written the following 
account at the request of Mrs. Benecke : 

80 Mayes Road, Wood Green, 

February ist, 1897. 

On Tuesday, July i6th, 1895, between the hours of i and 2 
o'clock, I was doing some work in our bedroom and, looking 
out of the window, saw (as I thought) Mr. Edward Benecke 
with another young gentleman walking in the garden, and I 
went at once to mother and told her Mr. Edward had come 
home, and she said something must have prevented him from 
starting, as we knew he was going to Switzerland for his holiday 
for I was positive it was him I saw. When nurse came in on 
the Thursday, mother asked her if Mr. Edward had come 
home, and she said " No," and then we only said, " I thought 
I saw him," and we thought no more about it until the sad 
news reached us. 

' See, e.g,, vol. i., pp. 524, 559 ; ii., pp. 40, 57. 61, 613. 
« Journal, S. P. R., March, 1S97. 



Haunted Houses 247 

In answer to some questions from Mrs. Benecke, 
Mrs. Nichols writes further : 

80 Mayes Road, Wood Green, February 4th, 1897. 

Madam, — I am glad to be able to answer the questions you 
have asked me. I did see another young man with Mr. Ed- 
ward (as I thought it was) and the look was not momentary, 
for I was so surprised to see him that I watched him until he 
turned round the path; he was coming, as he sometimes did 
after luncheon, from the stable yard, along the path and 
turned towards the house. He was smiling and talking to his 
friend, and I particularly noticed his hair, which was wavy as 
it always was ; he had nothing on his head. It was all that 
that made me feel so sure it was him, and I felt that I could 
not have been mistaken, knowing him so well. I cannot tell 
you anything [about] what the other young gentleman was 
like, as he was walking on the other side ; also I hardly noticed 
him at all, being so surprised to see Mr. Edward. Mother 
was doubtful when I told her about it and said I must be 
mistaken ; but I said I was sure I was not, and I was positive 
I had seen him, and I felt sure he had come home until nurse 
came in and said he had not been home, and then I thought 
how strange it was, and even then I could not think I was so 
mistaken, and often have I thought about it and feel even 
now that it was him I saw. Mother did say perhaps some 
accident had happened to his friend that he was to travel with 
and so was prevented from going ; that was the only remark 
that was made about an accident. 

If there is any other question I can answer, I shall be only 
too glad to do it for you. E. Nichols. 

Mrs. Benecke gives the following particulars : 

Teddy was in the habit of walking regularly in the garden, 
from 10 minutes past 12 till i o'clock, and again directly after 
luncheon, varying, according to the time this meal took us, 
from 1.30 or 1.45 till 2.30. He was so regular that I could tell 
the time by his footfall on the stairs. He never, except in the 



248 Haunted Houses 

very coldest weather — to please me — wore a hat or cap in 
the garden. The laundress often watched him walking up 
and down the garden paths, noticing the wind playing with 
his wavy hair. She even, at times, would get up on a stool to 
watch him, especially when Margaret was with him. She says 
they looked so bright and happy together. She has left us 
owing to her health, and her daughter married quite lately. 

Mr. and Mrs. Benecke heard of the vision only 
after the news of the disappearance had reached 
England, on the 20th July. 

Here it would seem that Mrs. Nichols saw the 
apparition because she happened to be on the spot 
to which the dying man's thoughts would inevitably 
turn. And the obvious interpretation of the in- 
cident — the interpretation which in fact obtained 
generally until the work of the Society for Psychi- 
cal Research had familiarised another explanation — 
is that the spirit was actually present, and able to 
assume visible shape. How such a theory can be 
reconciled with the requirements of physical science 
we need not here pause to consider. The fact of 
the apparition occurring at that time and in that 
place was, it may be conceded, due in some sort to 
the agency of the man whom the apparition repre- 
sented. But the apparition itself, the figure seen, 
we cannot doubt, was a dream projected from the 
brain of the seer. It would be impossible to treat 
this case as differing fundamentally from the great 
mass of cases reported to us. And as already shown, 
all analogy and the direct testimony of our own ex- 
periments point to these apparitions being essen- 
tially hallucinatory in their nature. The dreamlike 



Haunted Houses 249 

character of the vision in this particular case is fur- 
ther indicated by the occurrence of the second figure 
— a figure not even recognised by the seer. It seems 
probable that this second figure was a detail uncon- 
sciously added by the dream-consciousness to com- 
plete the verisimilitude of the picture, having in 
itself just as much or as little significance as the 
clothes which the apparition would appear to be 
wearing. As regards the explanation of the ap- 
parent influence of locality in facilitating telepathic 
impressions, it was suggested by Edmund Gurney 
that the occupation of the consciousness of agent 
and percipient by a common set of images, the one 
in present sensation, the other in memory, may form 
one of the predisposing conditions. But the con- 
sideration of other similar cases will perhaps throw 
some light on the point. 

In the narrative which follows, the apparition 
seen represented a man who had been dead for some 
weeks. 

No. 57. From Mrs. O'Donnell * 

5th September, 1898. 
[Mrs. O'Donnell explains that she had been residing in 
Brighton for some months during the winter of 1897-98, and 
that on the 2 2ndof March, 1 898, she moved into furnished rooms, 
at Hove. She felt unwell the first evening in the new rooms, 
and was much disturbed at night by the sound of footsteps over- 
head. On complaining of this in the morning, she learnt that 
the room above was untenanted. The noises were repeated on 
the second night, and Mrs. O'Donnell felt too ill to get up.] 
The third night I had a large fire made up, and had a nightlight 

* Journal, S. P. R., December, 1898, p. 327. 



2 so Haunted Houses 

for company. About ii p.m. my daughter went to her own 
room, wishing me a better night. Again the feeling of foot- 
steps overhead — so much so that a perfect thrill of terror ran 
through me. I kept looking towards the fire for about an hour, 
and then thought I should turn towards the wall, where, terrible 
to relate, a horrible figure was standing by my bedside, one 
arm pointing to the adjoining room (then vacant), and the other 
pointing to me, quite close to my face. I gasped for breath, 
and covered my face with the clothes. After some time I re- 
assured myself it was all imagination, and again turned to where 
I saw the horrid apparition. There it still was. I shrieked for 
terror, and called out, " Oh, my God, what is it ? " and put out 
my left hand as if to feel if it was real, but imagine my horror, 
I was grasped by the icy hand of death. I remember no more. 
. . . The figure I saw was that of a rather small man, very 
dark, with very small hands, and covered in a tattered black 
suit from head to foot, more like a scarecrow than anything 
human. I slept in my daughter's room the next night, or 
rather occupied it, for I could not sleep. Towards the middle 
of the night the door opened (I had locked it). A small, 
dark, gentlemanly young man walked in, saying : " Oh, so 
you have the Scotchman's room!" — smiled pleasantly, and 
walked out of the room as he had come in. It was all so 
strange and dreadful. I told some friends next day. They 
were greatly startled, and said: *' Can this be the house where 
the suicide happened a few weeks ago ? " I at once called up 
the landlady. She denied it, saying it was next door. I was 
determined to find out, and on sending to the various trades- 
people with whom we dealt, found it was the very house. The 
landlady then admitted it. The poor young man had slept in 
my bedroom, and the adjoining room (to which he had pointed) 
was his sitting-room, from the window of which he threw him- 
self out. He was killed on the spot. The landlady's son 
waited on us at table. On investigating the matter with him 
and his mother afterwards, I found his description of the poor 
young fellow corresponded with the apparition I saw. He was 
four-and-twenty, rather small, and very dark. He had had bad 



Haunted Houses 251 

bronchitis, and became depressed. On the morning of his 
death he got up rather early, saying he felt better, and when his 
family left him he immediately opened his window, and threw 
himself out. He fell from a second-floor window into the area. 
His clothes were torn to pieces as he fell. On inquiry as to 
the Scotchman's room, the landlady told me a young Scotch 
gentleman (now in the service) had occupied our drawing-room 
and that bedroom which I changed to — and that he was a great 
friend of the poor young fellow who had ended his life in such 
a dreadful manner. The landlady also admitted she would 
not go up-stairs after dark alone, so she also must have con- 
sidered the house haunted. I can certify all I have stated is 
strictly true. 

We have ascertained from a local paper that the 
suicide took place as above described, at the end 
of January, 1898. The deceased was twenty-four 
years old. 

Mrs. O'Donnell states that she had not heard of 
the suicide, and, indeed, the fact that she took the 
rooms is sufficient proof that she had not connected 
the tragedy with this particular house. It is per- 
haps conceivable that the vision may have been due 
to the revival of a forgotten memory of the news- 
paper report. In any single case of the kind it is 
no doubt possible, without violent straining of the 
probabilities, to find a normal explanation of the 
incident. But there are in our collection many 
cases of a similar type. Thus Mr. John Husbands, 
sleeping in a hotel at Madeira, awoke one night to 
see a young man in flannels standing at the side of 
his bed. He saw the features quite plainly. Later 
he learnt that a young man had died of consump> 
tion in that room about twelve months previously ; 



252 Haunted Houses 

and in a photograph of the deceased he recognised 
the features of the apparition.^ 

Again, a lady taking an afternoon nap in her 
bedroom on the day of her arrival at the Convent 
of St. Quay, Pontrieux, was awakened to see a 
venerable priest kneeling at the side of her bed. 
The figure rose, blessed her, and then vanished. 
On telling her story she learnt that no man was on 
the premises, but from her description the figure 
was recognised as that of the Bishop of St. Brieuc, 
who was in the habit of staying in this particular 
room when he visited the Convent. The funeral 
of the Bishop was taking place about sixteen miles 
off that same afternoon.2 

When all allowance has been made for coinci- 
dence, the effect of unconscious suggestion, and for 
the almost inevitable embellishments, from which 
the narrators are not withheld in a case of this kind 
by any sense of personal sacredness in their exper- 
ience, we find it difficult to resist the conclusion 
that these apparitions are in some fashion connected 
with the dead persons whom they purport to repre- 
sent. Of the nature of that connection it is not 
easy to form even a plausible guess. As Mr. 
Gurney says of one case of the kind, the vision fre- 

' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. v., p. 416. 

^Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. v., p. 460. For other cases of the type see 
Mr. Myers's list {ibid., p. 473). And for some recent instances see Miss 
Atkins's narrative {Jotirnal, April, 1894) ; the figure of a priest seen at Cos- 
tessey Park by Lady IJedingfield {Journal, May, 1899); Miss Bedford's 
ca.se {Journal, July, 1905) ; Mrs. Verrall's case {Journal, July, 1906). The 
figure seen in the last case was afterwards recognised from a portrait. 



Haunted Houses 253 

quently suggests ** not so much anything associated 
with the popular idea of haunting, or any continu- 
ing local interest on the part of the deceased per- 
son, as the survival of a mere image, impressed we 
cannot guess how, on we cannot guess what, by 
that person's physical organism, and perceptible at 
times to those endowed with some cognate form 
of sensitiveness." ^ 

Mr. Gurney suggests, it will be seen, the agency 
in some fashion of the dead. But we are not neces- 
sarily led to such an explanation. The old notion 
that a ghost was actually the spirit of the deceased 
person himself was inextricably bound up with the 
assumption that the figure seen had a material or 
objective reality. If we admit that the thing seen 
is but a dream figure, it becomes natural to endeav- 
our to trace its source to an agency of whose opera- 
tion we have independent proof — that is, thought 
transference from the living. 

May not this ancient room thou sitt'st in dwell 
In separate living souls for joy or pain ? 

Is it not conceivable, for instance, that the vision 
seen by Mrs. O'Donnell may have originated in 
the minds of the bereaved relatives? that the ap- 
parition of the Bishop of St. Brieuc may have been 
evoked by the grief of the sorrowing nuns? At 
any rate, while such a possibility exists, we are 
unable to regard these fugitive phantoms as sure 
indications of the presence of the dead. 

^Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. v., p. 417. 



254 Haunted Houses 

More difficult to explain on any hypothesis are 
those cases in which dreams and other psychical 
disturbances are connected with the presence of 
human remains. One of the most remarkable cases 
of the kind is the following. 

No. 58. From the " Banffshire Journal" * 

30th January, 1872. 

A most unusual and extraordinary occurrence has excited 
considerable interest in the district around Banff during the 
past few days, the chain of circumstances leading to which 
we are in a position to relate authoritatively. 

William Moir is grieve at the farm of Upper Dallachy, in 
the Parish of Boyndie, about three and a half miles west of 
Banff and a mile west of the fishing village of Whitehills. Moir 
is an intelligent, steady, and modest man, 35 years of age, and 
married. Shortly after Whit Sunday last, he dreamed that, 
on a particular spot near the farm of Dallachy, he saw lying 
a dead body with blood upon the face. The dream was so 
vivid that every point connected with it was deeply impressed 
upon his memory. The spot on which he dreamed he saw 
the body lie was a slight mound on the sloping ground which 
bounds the farm and stretches to the seaside, and about six- 
teen feet from the high-water mark. For a time after the 
dream, Moir did not think much about it ; but the idea of the 
dead man afterwards haunted him and he could not exclude 
it from his mind. By-and-bye the matter took so firm a hold 
upon his thoughts that never was he a moment unoccupied 
but the idea and the vision returned to him. 

[In July, 1871, Moir assisted to carry the body of a drowned 
man from the sea across the very spot indicated in his dream. 
When a few yards from the spot, Moir's companion slipped, 
and the body fell to the ground. Moir at .the time saw in 
this incident the fulfilment of his dream.] 

Still, however, the vision of the dream came back upon the 

' Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. vi., pp. 35, 36. 



Haunted Houses 255 

man. He could not go out walking or sit down at home in 
the evening without the recollection coming before his mind. 
Indeed, he began to think that his intellect was being affected, 
and he was conscious of becoming taciturn, morose, and 
absent. The disagreeable feeling continued to increase in 
intensity, and, during last week, it became positively painful. 

[On Thursday afternoon he left the house with the intention 
of proceeding to a part of the farm remote from the sea.] 

While Moir was on the way from the house, the idea of his 
dream occurred to him with such intense vividness that he 
turned and went back to the house. Saying nothing to any 
one in the house, he took a spade, and walked direct to the 
spot of which he had so distinct a recollection in connection 
with his dream, and removed a little of the turf from the sur- 
face. After he had done so, he put the spade down its full 
length into the ground and lifted up the earth. In the spade- 
ful of earth, however, there was an entire human skull. The 
man was not at all affected by the appearance of the skull, 
the idea in his mind being that the turning-up of the skull was 
nothing more than what was to have been expected. He took 
other spadefuls of earth, and brought up the lower jaw with 
teeth, followed by the shoulder bones, and, digging farther 
along, dug up other bones of a human body as far as the 
thigh. Laying the bones out on the surface of the ground 
just in the position he had found them buried, he realised 
that he was digging up a skeleton. 

Moir reported the matter to the poHce ; an in- 
vestigation was held ; but nothing was eHcited to 
throw light upon the mystery. The bones were 
thought by the doctors who examined them to 
have lain in the position where they were found 
for about forty years. There was a local tradition 
of the mysterious disappearance of a man at about 
that time. But the tradition does not seem to 
have been made the subject of precise enquiry ; 



256 Haunted Houses 

and we have no grounds for identifying the 
skeleton. 

Moir died in 1873 — the year following the dis- 
covery. But he had himself corrected in proof the 
account above quoted from the Banffshire Journal, 
We have received corroborative testimony from his 
widow of the profound effect produced on his mind 
by the dream before the discovery of the skeleton. 
He is said further to have fallen into a state of in- 
tense religious depression shortly before his death. 

It is difficult to suggest a plausible interpretation 
of this curious incident. If the bones were really 
forty years old, it is not easy to attribute the 
dream either to a guilty knowledge on Moir's part, 
or to telepathy from the person who had placed 
the skeleton where it was found. Again, In view 
of the situation of the skeleton, hyperaesthesia 
seems precluded. If we knew more of the case, 
and, in particular, if we had the opportunity of ex- 
amining Moir, some further light would perhaps 
be thrown upon the mystery. But the case as it 
stands seems to point less ambiguously than most 
in our collection to the agency of the dead. 

In another case of the kind the psychical dis- 
turbance, though very marked, was not referred at 
the time to any definite cause. 

No. 59. From Mrs. Montague-Crackanthorpk * 

Newbiggin Hall, Westmoreland, June nth, 1883. 
Herewith my ** Northamptonshire nights" — and days, as 

' Proceedings,, S. P. R., vol. vi., pp. 42,43- 



Haunted Houses 257 

accurately told as I can. But, beyond being very real to me, 
I am afraid they won't avail you much. For you see I heard 
nothing, saw nothing, neither did the maid. I was startled 
when my father told me of the rector's confession as to the 
'* disagreeableness " of that end of the house — months after- 
wards — but what made most impression upon me was, that 
having battled through the night with my vague terrors suc- 
cessfully, I could not sit in that arm-chair, in the sunshine, 
next day, with the sound of the cook singing over her work 
close at hand. 

In the summer of 1872, my father occupied a rectory house 
(Passenham) not far from Blisworth, in Northamptonshire, for 
a few weeks, and I went down to spend three days with him 
and my mother at Whitsuntide ; my two children and their 
nurse being already there. The room given to me was over 
the dining-room ; next door to it was the night nursery, in 
which my nurse and children slept, the rest of the inmates of 
the house being quite at the other end of a rather long passage. 
I hardly slept at all the first (Saturday) night, being possessed 
with the belief that some one was in my room whom I should 
shortly see. I heard nothing, and I saw nothing. The next 
morning, Sunday, I did not go to church, but betook myself to 
the dining-room with a book. It was, I remember, a perfectly 
lovely June morning. Before I had been a quarter of an hour 
in the room, and whilst wholly interested in the book, I was 
seized with a dread, of what I did not know ; but in spite of 
the sunshine and the servants moving about the house, I found 
it more intolerable to sit there than it had been to remain in 
the room above the night before, and so, after a struggle, and 
feeling not a little ashamed, I left the room and went to the 
garden. Sunday night was a repetition of Saturday. I slept 
not at all, but remained in what I can only describe as a state 
of expectation till dawn, and very thankfully I left on the 
Monday afternoon. To my father and mother I said nothing 
of my two bad nights. The nurse and children remained 
behind for another week. I noticed that the nurse looked 
gloomy when I left her, and I put it down to her finding the 



258 Haunted Houses 

country dull, after London. When she returned she told me 
that she hoped she would never have to go to stay in that house 
again, for she had not been able to sleep there during the fort- 
night, being each night the prey of fears, for which she could 
not account in any way. My father left this rectory at the 
end of the summer ; and some time afterwards he was talking 
of the place to me, and mentioned laughingly that before he 
entered it the rector had *' thought it right to let him know 
that that end of the house in which I and my children were 
put up was said to be haunted, my room especially, and that 
several of his visitors — his sister in particular — had been much 
troubled by this room being apparently entered, and steps and 
movements heard in the dead of night. I do not like to let 
you come in," the rector added, " without telling you this, 
though my own belief in it is small." Within, I think, a year 
or eighteen months at most of my father's leaving, the house 
had to undergo considerable repair, and amongst others, a new 
floor had to be laid in the dining-room. On taking up the old 
boards four or five (I forget which) skeletons were found close 
under the boarding in a row, and also close to the hearthstone. 
Some of the skulls of these skeletons were very peculiar in form. 

The Rev. G. M. Capell, writing from Passenham 
Rectory, October, 1889, says : " I found seven 
skeletons in my dining-room in 1874." 

Two other cases of the kind are cited in the 
article from which the above account is taken. In 
one case a feeling of unaccountable horror was ex- 
perienced in a room under part of the roof where 
the dried-up body of a baby was afterwards found- 
In another case, a governess and one of her girl 
pupils saw, independently, a ghostly figure in a 
room In Mannheim in the walls of which a skeleton 
had been discovered. The skeleton had been re- 
moved in the process of converting the room into 



Haunted Houses 259 

a schoolroom, and neither the governess nor the 
children had been told of the discovery. In another 
case the scene was a lodging-house in Trumpington 
Street, Cambridge. Loud and unaccountable noises 
had been heard in the house by the landlady, her 
servant, and at least two lodgers (undergraduates). 
The two former witnesses had also seen the appari- 
tion of a female figure. Some years afterwards 
three skulls, one that of a woman, were found just 
outside the window of the dining-room. ^ 

The discovery of human remains in or near a 
dwelling-house in any civilised country is in itself 
so rare an event that the coincidence in these cases 
is the more striking. It is difficult to doubt that 
the psychical disturbances were in some way con- 
nected with these gruesome memorials of a past 
tragedy. But the only normal explanation which 
suggests itself is that of hypersesthesia. Such an 
explanation, however, will scarcely apply even in 
Case 58, where the skeleton, buried in an open plain 
some distance from the house where Moir was 
haunted by his dream, was not more than forty 
years old. Of the skeletons found under the floor 
of Passenham Rectory, six were of a primitive type, 
and undoubtedly very old. Two of them were 
sent to the late M. de Quatrefages, at Paris. The 
seventh, according to the rector, Mr. Capell, was 
of comparatively recent origin ; but it does not 
appear that it was sufficiently recent to give any 
support to the hypothesis of hypersesthesia. 

2 Journal^ S. P. R., March, 1901. 



26o Haunted Houses 

There are numerous cases in our collection in 
which mysterious noises have been heard, and ghostly 
figures seen by several witnesses in a particular 
house or locality. But though such ** haunted " 
houses are fairly common, the phenomena are un- 
fortunately inconclusive and extremely difficult of 
interpretation, partly from defect in the records, 
partly from the dubious nature of the things wit- 
nessed. It is seldom possible to connect the 
figures seen with the past history of the locality ; 
it is not always possible to say that the figures 
seen by successive witnesses were really similar. 
But the fact, which seems to be well established, 
that in certain houses or places hallucinatory 
figures have been seen independently by several 
witnesses, is one which calls for explanation. The 
noises described as occurring in haunted houses 
have no doubt less significance, except in so far as 
they indicate a tendency to nervousness or halluci- 
nation on the part of the witnesses. 

In the case which follows an apparition was seen 
in the same neighbourhood on several occasions, 
more than once by two persons simultaneously. 
We have, I think, no other case in our collection 
in which an apparition has been repeatedly seen on 
a country road in full daylight. 

No. 60. From Miss M. W. Scott * 

Lessudden House, St. Boswells, 

February, 1893. 

The incident I am about to relate occurred on the 7th of 
^Journal, S. P. R., November, 1893. 



Haunted Houses 261 

May, 1892, between five and six in the afternoon. Having 
gone for a walk, I was returning homewards by a road in the 
vicinity of St. Boswells. The greater portion of the way is 
quite level, but at one part a short incline terminates with a 
sharp corner at the end. From the top of this eminence the 
whole road is conspicuous, with a hedge and bank on either 
side. Upon reaching the specified point, and finding time 
limited, I thought I would expedite matters by running, and 
had not gone many steps when I came to a sudden halt, for 
just a few yards beyond I perceived a tall man dressed in 
black, and who walked along at a moderate pace. Fancying 
he would think mine an extraordinary proceeding, I finally 
stopped altogether to permit of his getting on farther, while at 
the same time watching him turn the corner and pass on 
where his figure was still distinctly defined between the hedges 
referred to. He was gone in a second — there being no exit 
anywhere — without my having become aware of it. Greatly 
surprised, I then myself passed the same corner and spot where 
I had seen the man vanish a few seconds before, and here, a 
short space onward, I saw one of my sisters standing and look- 
ing about everywhere in a bewildered manner. When I came 
up to her I said : " Wherever has that man disappeared to ? '* 
and upon our comparing notes together it became evident 
that we had both experienced a similar sensation regarding the 
stranger, the only difference being that I had seen the appari- 
tion on in front, while she says he came facing her, and she, 
too, had noticed he vanished almost immediately. 

But here the strangest part of it all is that we found that 
when the man became invisible to her, he appeared to me be- 
tween the part of the road where she and I were standing. I 
may also here add that at the time we saw the apparition 
neither sister knew the other was so near. 

Our experience then ended, until some weeks later, for 
though we thought the encounter a strange one, we did not 
trouble much about it. Towards the end of July, and at the 
same hour as before, another sister and myself were travers- 
ing the same spot, when not far distant I observed a dark 



262 Haunted Houses 

figure approaching, and exclaimed : " Oh, I do believe that 
is our man. I won't remove my eyes from him ! " and neither 
we did till he seemed Xo fade away towards the bank on our 
right. Not waiting a moment to consider, each rushed fran- 
tically to either side of the road, but, of course, saw nothing 
We questioned some boys who were on the top of a hay-cart 
in the opposite field, and to whom the expanse of road was 
clearly visible, but they declared no one had passed that way. 
This time I again viewed the entire figure, while my sister 
only saw the head and to below the shoulders. The man was 
dressed entirely in black, consisting of a long coat, gaiters, 
and knee-breeches, and his legs were very thin. Round his 
throat was a wide white cravat, such as I have seen in old 
pictures. On his head was a low-crowned hat — the fashion I 
am unable to describe. His face, of which I only saw the 
profile, was exceedingly thin and deadly pale. 

Miss Louisa Scott's account of the first incident 
is as follows : 

As my sister has written a full and accurate account of our 
extraordinary experience in seeing a ghost in the broad day- 
light of a May afternoon, and as the road has already been 
described, I need only describe very briefly the appearance 
and movements of the apparition as I saw him. The date 
was the 7th of May, 1892, hour about a quarter before six, 
when, as I was walking homewards, I saw advancing towards 
me at an ordinary pace a tall man, dressed in black, whom I 
believed to be a clergyman. I removed my gaze but for a 
second, when great was my surprise when looking up again to 
find that he had gone from my sight. The hedge on either side 
of the road is very thick, with wide fields on either side so that 
the man could not possibly have sprung over it without my 
having seen him. I felt extremely mystified, and stood for 
several minutes, looking backwards and forwards into the 
fields and in all directions, when I was much surprised by see- 
ing ray sister turn the corner of a little incline higher up the 



Haunted Houses 263 

road and commence running down it, almost immediately com- 
ing to a sudden halt, and I saw her acting in the same way as 
I had done about five minutes before. Soon she walked 
onwards again, and finally turned the second sharp angle of 
the road and came hurriedly towards me, looking very much 
excited. (I had no idea that she was behind, nor did she 
know that I should be likely to be found in front of her.) Up- 
on coming up to me she said, " Where on earth is that man who 
was standing only about ten feet from you ? " And here, what 
makes it more striking is that I was facing the tall spectre, 
yet could not see him when my sister did. She was more fortun- 
ate than I, for she saw the entire dress of the man, while I 
only noticed his long black coat, the lower part of his body to 
me being invisible ; while she had the satisfaction of see- 
ing him entirely and also seeing him vanish, as she did not 
remove her eyes, as I did, from the first time of seeing him. 
This is all I have seen of the man, but to what I did see 
nothing has been added by the aid of imagination. 

(Signed) Louisa Scott. 

Miss M. W. Scott adds : 

My other sister, who was with me when we saw the appari- 
tion for the last time, says that in the sketch I sent through 
Miss Guthrie it is narrated what she saw, and therefore she 
thinks her statement would be scarcely worth anything, her 
experience being so slight, as she only noticed the head and 
shoulders of the man, while I, as before, on the other occasion, 
perceived the entire dark figure. 

We heard from Miss Scott a few months later 
that she had again seen the apparition in the same 
place as before. She describes it as follows : 

June 14th, 1893. 
I have again seen the ghost, and under the following cir- 
cumstances. On Sunday, last, June 12th, at a few minutes 
before ten in the morning, having occasion to pass that way, I 



264 Haunted Houses 

perceived far in front a dark figure, who at that distance was 
indistinguishable as to whether it were man or woman, but be- 
lieving the person to be the latter, and one I was acquainted 
with and likely to meet at that hour, I determined to hurry on 
and overtake her. I had not gone far, however, when I soon 
discovered it to be none other than the apparition we had 
looked for and failed to see for so many months. I did not 
then feel at all afraid, and, hoping to get a nearer inspection, 
boldly followed, running in close pursuit; but here the strang- 
est part of it all is that though he was apparently walking 
slowly, I never could get any closer than within a few yards, 
for in but a moment he sQ^mtd. to float or skim away. Pre- 
sently he suddenly came to a standstill and I began to feel very 
much afraid, and stopped also. There he was — the tall 
spectre dressed as I have described before. He turned round 
and gazed at me with a vacant expression, and the same 
pallid, ghastly features. I can liken him to no one I have 
ever seen. While I stood, he still looked intently at me for a 
few seconds, then resumed his former position. Moving on a 
few steps he again stood and looked back for the second time, 
finally fading from view at his usual spot by the hedge to the 
right. 

In a letter to a friend dated 28th June, 1893, 
Miss Scott, referring to the last appearance, writes: 

I have had a splendid inspection of his appearance this 
time. He wears what is likely to be black silk stockings and 
shoe-buckles, short knee-breeches, and long black coat. The 
hat I cannot describe. The man is certainly dressed as a 
clergyman of the last century, and we have an old picture 
in the house for which he might have sat. 

In August, 1898, Miss Scott saw the figure once 
more, but on this occasion the sister who was pre- 
sent with her did not see it. Miss Scott saw the 
figure again on the 24th July, and i6th August, 1900. 



Haunted Houses 265 

Miss Irvine, a lady resident in the neighbour- 
hood, saw the figure at 4 p.m. one afternoon in the 
spring of 1894. Miss Scott tells us that the figure 
was also seen in 1892 or 1893 by two village girls ; 
but we have not received a first-hand account of 
the appearance. 

It should be noted, as pointed out by Miss Scott 
herself, that the dress of the figure on the two oc- 
casions last mentioned seems to have differed from 
the dress as seen by the original percipient. Miss 
Scott had seen a long coat and knee-breeches. 
Miss Irvine, in writing to us, describes the figure as 
wearing " a long cloak with cape and slouched hat, 
his hands in his coat pockets." No mention is 
made of knee-breeches. The village girls, accord- 
ing to Miss Scott, saw only a filmy looking sheet. 
We may look upon these discrepancies as some 
testimony to the accuracy of our informants. But 
in view of them we are hardly justified in speaking 
of the figures seen by the several witnesses as the 
same figure. It will be seen, from the descriptions 
given by Miss M. W. Scott and Miss Louisa Scott 
of the first appearance, that their visions were not 
simultaneous, and that the successive positions in 
which the figure was seen were inconsistent with its 
being a real figure. It should perhaps be added 
that there is a vague rumour of a murder having 
been committed in the neighbourhood, but that 
there is no authentic legend which throws any light 
upon the apparition. 

Space will not permit of more than one other 



266 Haunted Houses 

example of this class of narrative, and I will choose, 
therefore, the case of which we have the fullest 
and most satisfactory record. 

The chief percipient in the following history 
refrained from mentioning her early experiences 
to any member of her family, but wrote an account 
of them in contemporary letters to a friend. It is 
from these letters, which were happily preserved, 
that Miss "Morton's" account, written in 1892, is 
compiled. Some of the other percipients have 
given first-hand accounts of their experiences, but 
these, as will be seen, were written down some 
years after the events. Miss " Morton," who with- 
holds her real name lest the house should be iden- 
tified and its value impaired, is known personally 
to several members of the Society. 

No. 61. From Miss "Morton"* 

The house is a commonplace square building, dating from 
about i860. Its first tenant was Mr. S., whose first wife died 
in the house (in August, year uncertain). Mr. S. married 
again, but his second marriage was unhappy. Both he and 
his wife took to drink. In order to prevent his second wife 
securing his first wife's jewels, he had a secret receptacle con- 
structed for them under the floor of the morning-room or 
study. In that room he died in July, 1876, his widow dying 
in another part of England in September, 1878. With the 
exception of a brief tenancy of six months, terminated by 
death, the house appears to have remained unoccupied from 
the summer of 1876 until March, 1882, when it was taken by 
Captain Morton. Neither Captain Morton nor his wife, an 
invalid, ever saw anything in the house. The eldest sister, Mrs. 

' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. viii., pp. 311-332. 



Haunted Houses 267 

K., an occasional visitor, saw the figure on two or three occa- 
sions. Of the four other sisters, three at one time or another 
saw the ghost ; and so did the younger brother. Miss Morton, 
the chief percipient and the recorder of the case, was aged 
about nineteen at the time. The first appearance was in June, 
1882, and is thus described by her : 

** I had gone up to my room, but was not yet in bed, when 
I heard some one at the door, and went to it, thinking it might 
be my mother. On opening the door, I saw no one ; but on 
going a few steps along the passage, I saw the figure of a tall 
lady, dressed in black, standing at the head of the stairs. 
After a few moments she descended the stairs, and I followed 
for a short distance, feeling curious what it could be. I had 
only a small piece of candle and it suddenly burnt itself out ; 
and being unable to see more, I went back to my room. 

" The figure was that of a tall lady, dressed in black of a 
soft woollen material, judging from the slight sound in moving. 
The face was hidden in a handkerchief held in the right hand. 
This is all I noticed then ; but on further occasions when I 
was able to observe her more closely, I saw the upper part of 
the left side of the forehead, and a little of the hair above. 
Her left hand was nearly hidden by her sleeve and a fold 
of her dress. As she held it down a portion of a widow's cuff 
was visible on both wrists, so that the whole impression was 
that of a lady in widow's weeds. There was no cap on the 
head, but a general effect of blackness suggests a bonnet, 
with long veil or a hood. 

" During the next two years — from 1882 to 1884 — I saw 
the figure about half a dozen times ; at first at long intervals, 
and afterwards at shorter, but I only mentioned these appear- 
ances to one friend, who did not speak of them to any one. 

" After the first time, I followed the figure several times 
downstairs into the drawing-room, where she remained a 
variable time, generally standing to the right hand side of the 
bow window. From the drawing-room she went along the pas- 
sage towards the garden door, where she always disappeared. 

" The first time I spoke to her was on the 29th January, 



268 Haunted Houses 

1884. * I opened the drawing-room door softly and went in, 
standing just by it. She came in past me and walked to the 
sofa and stood still there, so I went up to her and asked her if 
I could help her. She moved, and I thought she was going to 
speak, but she only gave a slight gasp and moved towards the 
door. Just by the door I spoke to her again, but she seemed 
as if she were quite unable to speak. She walked into the 
hall, then by the side door she seemed to disappear as before.' 
(Quoted from a letter written on January 31st.) In May and 
June, 1884, I tried some experiments, fastening strings with 
marine glue across the stairs at different heights from the 
ground — of which I give a more detailed account later on. 

" I also attempted to touch her, but she always eluded me. 
It was not that there was nothing there to touch, but that she 
always seemed to be beyond me, and if followed into a corner 
simply disappeared. 

" During these two years the only noises I heard were those of 
slight pushes against my bedroom door, accompanied by foot- 
steps; and if I looked out on hearing these sounds, I invari- 
ably saw the figure. * Her footstep is very light, you can 
hardly hear it, except on the linoleum, and then only like a 
person walking softly with thin boots on.' (Letter of January 
31st, 1884.) The appearances during the next two months — 
July and August, 1884 — became much more frequent; indeed 
they were then at their maximum, from which time they seem 
gradually to have decreased, until now they seem to have 
ceased. 

" Of these two months I have a short record in a set of journal 
letters written at the time to a friend. On July 21st I find the 
following account. "I went into the drawing-room, where 
my father and sisters were sitting, about 9 in the evening, and 
sat down on a couch close to the bow window. A few minutes 
after, as I sat reading, I saw the figure come in at the open 
door, cross the room, and take up a position close behind the 
couch where I was. I was astonished that no one else in the 
room saw her, as she was so very distinct to me. My youngest 
brother, who had before seen her, was not in the room. She 



Haunted Houses 269 

stood behind the couch for about half an hour, and then as 
usual walked to the door. I went after her, on the excuse of 
getting a book, and saw her pass along the hall, until she came 
to the garden door, where she disappeared. I spoke to her as 
she passed the foot of the stairs, but she did not answer, 
although as before she stopped and seemed as though about to 
speak.' On July 31st, some time after I had gone up to bed, 
my second sister E., who had remained downstairs talking in 
another sister's room, came to me saying that some one had 
passed her on the stairs. I tried then to persuade her that it 
was one of the servants, but next morning found it could not 
have been so, as none of them had been out of their rooms at 
that hour, and E.'s more detailed description tallied with what 
I had already seen." 

During this period of two years the figure was 
also seen by at least three other inmates of the 
house, none of them knowing what the others had 
seen. 

(i) Mrs. K. writes: 

" 29tli March, 1892. 

"While staying at , in the autumn of 1883, 1 was coming 

down the stairs, about five in the afternoon, when I saw a tall 
figure in black cross the hall, push open the drawing-room 
door, and go in. At the time I thought she was a Sister of 
Mercy, from her long veil, the figure being entirely substan- 
tial, and like that of a real person, although on others making 
inquiries, no one had called. 

" This, I may mention, was the year before I heard of any 
appearance being known of in the house." 

Mrs. K. adds that she saw the figure on two 
other occasions. 

(2) Mr. W. H. C. Morton writes : 

" 31st December, 1891. 
"On or about December i8th, 1883, I was playing with a 
school-friend on the path in front of the drawing-room win- 



270 Haunted Houses 

dows, when on looking up at the drawing-room we both saw a 
tall figure in black, holding a handkerchief to her face with 
her right hand, seated at the writing-table in the window, and 
therefore in full light. We came in at once, but on going into 
the room found no one there, and on making inquiries found 
that no stranger had been in the house that afternoon. As 
far as I can remember, this was about 3.15 in the afternoon. 
At all events, it was full daylight at the time. 

" Since then I have seen the figure twice. 

"... Previously to seeing the appearances (i) and (2) I had 
heard nothing about anything unusual in the house." 

(3) The third appearance was to a housemaid, 
and is thus described by Miss Morton : 

" In the autumn of 1883 it was seen by the housemaid about 
10 P.M., she declaring that some one had got into the house, 
her description agreeing fairly with what I had seen ; but, as 
on searching no one was found, her story received no credit." 

On August 5th, 1884, Miss Morton told her 
father what she had seen, and thereafter the 
** ghost" became a familiar topic in the household. 
Subsequent appearances have thus somewhat less 
scientific interest, since it is impossible to exclude 
the effect of suggestion. One other illustration 
may however be quoted. The percipient in this 
case was a charwoman, Mrs. Twining, and the ac- 
count is based upon notes taken by Mr. Myers at a 
personal interview on 29th December, 1889. 

"About three years ago, one summer evening between eight 
and nine, when it was twilight, I had been at work at the 
Mortons' and was waiting for my pay. 1 stood at the top of 
the kitchen stairs, where there is a door into the garden be- 
hind the house. I saw a lady pass by, rather tall, in black 



Haunted Houses 271 

silk, with white collar and cuffs, a handkerchief in her hand, 
and a widow's fall. I had heard about the ghost, but it never 
struck me that this figure cculd be a ghost — it looked so like an 
ordinary person. I thought that some one had come to call 
and missed her way to the door. The family were at tea and 
I was merely waiting, so out of curiosity I followed the lady 
round the house. Just outside the morning-room window she 
suddenly disappeared. I was quite near her; it was quite 
impossible that a real person could have got away." 

During the next few years the characteristic 
light footsteps were frequently heard by all the in- 
mates of the house ; also other sounds which grad- 
ually grew more loud and terrifying. The figure 
was also frequently seen, by Miss Morton herself, 
by her sisters, and by servants ; sometimes in the 
garden or orchard, more frequently in the house ; 
sometimes in full daylight, at other times in the 
dusk or by artificial light. The phenomena gradu- 
ally decreased in intensity and frequency from 1887 
onwards, and had entirely ceased before 1892. 
After 1886 Miss Morton records that the figure 
became less lifelike and distinct. 

The figure is stated to have been identified by 
description as resembling the second Mrs. S. It 
should be borne in mind, however, that, as the face 
was never seen, any identification of the kind must 
be of an uncertain character. It should be added 
that there is some evidence of the house having the 
character of being haunted before it was taken by 
the Mortons. None of the Morton family have 
experienced any other hallucinations, but Miss 
Morton has taken part in some successful experi- 



272 Haunted Houses 

ments in thought transference. Instances were 
observed of terror and other unaccountable be- 
haviour on the part of two dogs, which suggested 
that they also saw the ghost. 

This narrative, it should be explained, cannot 
be taken as altogether typical. The appearances 
of the figure were much more frequent than is 
commonly the case in what may conveniently be 
called " haunted houses." The fiofure itself was 
more substantial-looking and more distinctly seen 
than many of the figures described in narratives of 
this class. But it is by the persistence of the ap- 
parition in this instance, its movement from place 
to place, and its apparently purposive action, that 
the case is most sharply distinguished from the 
bulk of the accounts furnished to us. It is possible 
that these very characteristics are due to the same 
cause which has preserved a contemporary record 
of the incidents, viz., the scientific temper and 
training of Miss Morton, who was actually studying 
medicine at the time when she wrote the account. 

However that may be, in the ordinary ghost 
story, of which we have, as said, numerous exam- 
ples recorded at first hand, the figure is as a rule 
seen only for a few moments, vanishing before it 
can be closely examined ; it rarely indicates any 
purpose, or makes any motion indicative of intelli- 
gence. A more significant point is that in very 
few cases can we be satisfied that the figures seen 
by the different witnesses can fairly be described as 
the same figure. The details have in most cases 



Haunted Houses 273 

been committed to writing only after hearing the 
descriptions of others ; so that features discerned 
or beheved to be common become more definite in 
recollection, and discrepancies tend to disappear. 
In short, the image which remains in the memories 
of the percipients is apt to resemble a composite 
photograph, in which all the common features are 
emphasised, and details found only in individual 
cases are blurred or faintly indicated. 

But even in the accounts forwarded to us, mostly 
written some years after the events, when there has 
been ample time for the several experiences to have 
been talked over and smoothed into uniformity, it 
frequently happens that we can discern marked dis- 
crepancies in the description of the figures. In many 
cases the figures seen are admittedly different. In 
the case, for instance, a fragment of which has 
been already quoted at the end of the last chapter, 
(No. 55), the most frequent apparition was a 
figure, sex uncertain, clothed in black with, accord- 
ing to most witnesses, some white about the head 
and shoulders. But one inmate of the house saw 
the figure of a man in his shirt-sleeves ; the appar- 
ition of a white dog was also seen by several per- 
sons. Here then in this one case we have four 
distinct kinds of apparition. 

The impression left upon the mind after a care- 
ful survey of the best attested narratives is that the 
authentic ghost rarely appears in recognisable, per- 
haps not even in constant shape ; that his connec- 
tion with tragedies is obscure and uncertain. He 
18 



274 Haunted Houses 

appears in fact In most narratives as a fugitive, 
irrelevant, and frequently polymorphic phantasm. 
He seems to flit as Idly across the scene as the 
figure cast by a magic lantern, and he possesses ap- 
parently as little purpose, volition, or Intelligence. 
Often, Indeed, the appearance is so brief and so 
unsubstantial that It can be called little more than 
the suggestion of a figure. It bears as little resem- 
blance to the aggrieved miser, the repentant monk, 
the unquiet spirit of the murderer or his victim, 
with whom the legends of our childhood and the 
dinner-parties of our maturer years have made us 
familiar, as the dragons whom Siegfried slew bear 
to the winged lizards whose bones lie burled in the 
Sussex weald. 

It would be premature then to conclude, on the 
faith of one or two striking Instances which seem to 
point In that direction, that the dead have any 
message to deliver to the living. But if cases of the 
kind recorded by William Moir and Miss Morton 
should ultimately be multiplied, such a conclusion 
would no doubt appear less dubious. To secure 
that end it Is essential to cultivate a scientific atti- 
tude towards the facts. Whatever these vague 
phantasms may ultimately prove to be, whether 
messages from the dead, or mere random dreams 
of the living, they are, at any rate, amongst the 
things that happen. They are questionable shapes, 
and will, If we persevere, yield an answer to our 
questioning. 



I; 



CHAPTER XII 

MESSAGES RECEIVED THROUGH TRANCE OR 
AUTOMATISM 

A MO N GST the subjects of investigation set out 
'**' in the original prospectus of the Society, as 
already indicated, was the study of hypnotism and 
the phenomena of the induced trance. In the 
Society's early years some valuable experimental 
work in this direction was done by the late Edmund 
Gurney, especially in investigating the relations of 
the hypnotic to the normal consciousness. And up 
to the present time we have let pass no opportunity 
for studying any case of automatism, abnormal 
lapse of memory, or secondary consciousness. 
Again, F. W. H. Myers has done the work of a 
pioneer in his wide survey of the whole field of 
these perplexing and obscure phenomena, and has 
shown how order can be evolved out of chaos. But 
the subject is now recognised as legitimate for 
scientific enquiry. Even English medical men 
have at length reluctantly admitted the existence 
of the hypnotic state, and are beginning to discern 
in it profitable material for study. On the Continent 
hypnotism has been incorporated in medical practice 

27s 



276 Messages Through Trance 

in many independent quarters for nearly a genera- 
tion ; of recent years the baffling manifestations 
of dissociated personality are, especially in France 
and America, being made the subject of careful and 
prolonged research ; and automatic reactions are 
being accurately measured in psychological labora- 
tories. Now that this province has been definitely 
annexed by medical men and professional psycho- 
logists, the special function of the Society for Psy- 
chical Research is fulfilled. The investigation is 
not of course concluded ; it is in fact little more 
than begun. Our own researches will continue, it 
is hoped, to yield fruit : they are indeed probably 
necessary for the elucidation of some aspects of the 
subject. But the study as a whole has reached a 
stage at which the wider resources of the alienist's 
clinique, and the more exact methods of the psy- 
chological laboratory are needed for its further 
progress. To enable the reader to appreciate the 
real bearing of the evidence presented in the two 
chapters which follow, it is necessary to give some 
account of the results already attained and of the 
conclusions to which they point, even though at 
the present stage of the nascent science a brief 
summary of this kind must necessarily be incom- 
plete and perhaps to some extent misleading. 

Briefly then, to the older philosophy the mind of 
man seemed a thing apart, a clear-cut indissoluble 
unity, whose permanence and identity admitted 
neither doubt or degree. To the new experimental 
psychology, the unity of consciousness is a mere 



Messages Through Trance 277 

illusion ; It is even as the '' elementary " nature of 
earth, air, and water, the unreasoned judgment of 
ignorance. The composite and unstable nature 
of our consciousness can be inferred even from the 
manifestations of normal waking and sleep. Our 
waking consciousness at any given moment may 
by careful introspection be found to consist in a 
heterogeneous mass of impressions of every de- 
gree of intensity. Take, for instance, the case of 
a man walking about and talking with a friend in 
some crowded place. His consciousness will in- 
clude many distinct groups of ideas ; he will be 
** thinking " primarily of some particular aspect of 
the subject under discussion, but there will enter as 
elements into his consciousness ideas of its other 
aspects and of cognate subjects. He will also be 
conscious of his interlocutor's appearance, voice, 
etc. ; he will be conscious, more dimly, of the ap- 
pearance of his surroundings and of the other per- 
sons near him ; there will probably be present to 
him also some twilight knowledge of scraps of con- 
versation overheard ; and, lastly, there will be an 
obscure but adequate conception of his own move- 
ments in walking and speaking, and of his tactile, 
muscular, and organic sensations generally. 

In the language of physiology, consciousness re- 
flects the simultaneous, co-ordinate activities of an 
immense number of nerve-centres, but reflects them 
very imperfectly, much as — to employ Ribot's illus- 
tration — a map represents the main features of a 
countryside. 



278 Messages Through Trance 

But when, as in sleep, the pressure on the limits 
of consciousness is relieved by the inactivity of 
some of the higher cerebral centres, the " critical 
point" of consciousness is lowered, various new 
elements rise above the threshold, and elements 
hitherto subordinate acquire greater prominence. 
Of the throng of images present to the mind during 
sleep, the most part are so evanescent as to fade 
from the memory shortly after waking. The com- 
mon run of dreams, no doubt, are comparable in 
intensity to the feebler reverberations accompany- 
ing the main movement of our waking thoughts, 
and assume temporary importance only because 
they do not come into competition with more vivid 
impressions. Thus sensations of organic processes 
are frequently predominant during sleep, just as 
the clank and clash of shunting trains, the gross 
machinery which underlies our social life, forms an 
unregarded element in the complex mass of sound 
which fills our ears in the daylight hours, but at- 
tains to solitary distinctness in the quiet of the 
night. 

We thus sometimes obtain in dreams knowledge 
of latent illness of which no sign could be discerned 
in our waking hours. Again, in sleep we frequently 
revert to forgotten memories of our earlier years, 
and our dreams are constantly coloured by the 
emotional tone which prevailed in childhood. Our 
consciousness in dreams is thus still a compound, 
but it is a compound which includes different ele- 
ments. Further, in dreams there may be spon- 



Messages Through Trance 279 

taneous intellectual activity, unrelated to the main 
stream of consciousness, as when problems are 
solved or poetry composed in sleep. 

Until a generation or two ago the survey of our 
intellectual processes was practically limited to the 
two fields of sleep and wakefulness, with stray facts 
gleaned from delirium or occasional instances of 
automatic action, — Dr. Carpenter's ** unconscious 
cerebration." But the observations accumulated in 
the last twenty or thirty years have revolutionised 
our conception of man's personality. On the one 
hand, in the hypnotic trance we commonly find a 
memory and consciousness differing from those of 
normal life. Many hypnotic subjects retain in 
v/aking life no recollection of what they have done 
and suffered in the hypnotic trance ; but when again 
hypnotised they can recall all that passed in the 
previous trance, and will, moreover, almost invari- 
ably, be cognisant of their waking life as well. To 
put it briefly, the hypnotic memory in such cases 
includes the normal memory, as the larger of two 
concentric circles includes the smaller. How far 
this secondary consciousness is pre-existent, or how 
far it owes its being to the suggestion of the hyp- 
notiser is still undecided. But some experiments 
made by Edmund Gurney indicate that some of the 
limitations of consciousness and memory in the 
hypnotic state are purely artificial. He has shown 
that in many hypnotic subjects two distinct stages 
can be demonstrated in the hypnotic trance, each 
with a memory peculiar to itself and mutually 



2 8o Messages Through Trance 

exclusive. In some subjects, indeed, he succeeded 
in evoking three such stages, the memory in each 
being distinct and exclusive, so that the subject in 
state A would carry on an animated conversation 
on any imaginary incident suggested to him by 
Gurney ; when thrown into state B he would have 
completely forgotten the subject of his talk in state 
A, but would talk on a fresh subject similarly sug- 
gested, which would in turn be forgotten on his 
being placed in state C. He could be led back- 
wards and forwards through these three states sev- 
eral times in the course of an evening, and would 
converse in each state freely on the ideas peculiar 
to that state, or on any other which might be sug- 
gested to him. After a few days, however, these 
artificial barriers would disappear, and the trance 
memory would show itself undivided. 

Now the phenomena which can be observed on a 
small scale in these artificial divisions of memory 
occur in much more impressive form in certain 
pathologic cases. Sometimes, as in the life-history 
of Ansel Bourne, the patient may entirely lose his 
memory and his sense of identity, and have to 
begin life over again in an unfamiliar environ- 
ment. Sometimes, as in the classic case of Felida 
X., or the more recent history, recorded by Dr. 
Morton Prince, of Miss Beauchamp, two, or more, 
states of consciousness may alternate, and this al- 
ternation may be observed to continue for years. 
The memories proper to these states may be mu- 
tually exclusive ; or on the other hand, the memory 



Messages Through Trance 281 

in state B may, as In the hypnotic trance, include 
that in state A ; whilst in state A the unhappy 
patient may know nothing of his doings and suffer- 
ings in state B. 

Much light has been thrown upon the pathology 
of these cases of double consciousness by Janet's 
studies conducted on hysterical patients in the 
Salpetriere. Broadly speaking, he has shown that 
these alterations of memory and consciousness 
correspond with alterations in the physical basis of 
memory. The patient for whom, in the state to 
which attacks of hystero-epilepsy had reduced her, 
the memory of a great part of her past life was a 
blank, possessed also a seriously curtailed sensory 
equipment. She had no sense of touch, and no 
muscular sense. She would ** lose her legs in bed " 
as she herself described it, and could walk only by 
looking at her limbs and the ground. She was 
very deaf, and her sight, her most serviceable sense, 
was extremely restricted. But when under hyp- 
notic treatment, she recovered the use of her limbs, 
and could walk without looking at her feet or the 
floor, and recovered also her normal powers of 
vision. A corresponding enlargement of the mem- 
ory was observed. She would not only be conscious 
of all her life as a hospital patient, but she could 
remember also the years of her childhood. 

Now there are indications in many cases of spon- 
taneous trance of similar physical deficiencies ac- 
companying, and presumably conditioning, the 
changes of consciousness. Thus M. Flournoy re- 



282 Messages Through Trance 

cords in the case of his subject, Helene Smith, dis- 
turbances of the muscular system (contractions, 
convulsions, and involuntary movements of various 
kinds), partial paralysis, and local anaesthetic 
patches. In less extreme cases the secondary per- 
sonality may be characterised by neurasthenia, im- 
paired circulation, and generally some degree of ill 
health. Even in the case of automatic writing it 
can occasionally be demonstrated that the writing 
hand is anaesthetic, and some degree of anaesthesia 
is reported to have been observed in subjects during 
the performance of a post-hypnotic promise. 

Speaking broadly, then, it may be inferred that 
all changes in memory and consciousness are con- 
ditioned by changes in the physical basis of memory 
and consciousness ; in sleep the supply of blood to 
the brain is diminished ; in intoxication the higher 
centres are poisoned ; the enlargement of memory 
in the case of the Salpdtri^re patient represents the 
removal of an inhibition, the revivification of dor- 
mant tracts of cerebral tissue ; and even the simplest 
case of automatic action appears to involve a tem- 
porary segregation of certain groups of brain cells 
constituting a sensori-motor area. 

In the more familiar forms of dissociated con- 
sciousness — sleep, delirium, alcoholic intoxication, 
epilepsy — the lines of cleavage are, so to speak, 
horizontal. It is the higher controlling centres, 
and generally speaking those parts of the brain 
concerned with the life of relation, whose activity 
is repressed or altogether suspended. The total 



Messages Through Trance 283 

amount of consciousness, to speak figuratively, may 
not in all cases be affected, but the level sinks ; it 
includes less of the higher and more of the lower. 
In various forms of trance, however, and in cases 
of double personality, the cleavage is commonly 
vertical. The new consciousness is approximately 
on the same level as the old. The higher cerebral 
centres still continue their functions ; the new per- 
sonality is not a mere torso, as in sleep ; it is so to 
speak complete in itself. It is not necessarily either 
higher or lower, it is merely different. The differ- 
ence, generally speaking, may be presumed to lie 
in the inclusion or exclusion of certain sensori- 
motor areas, the revivification or inhibition of cer- 
tain cerebral tracts, with all the memories and 
sensations based upon them. The earliest indica- 
tions of this vertical cleavage, it should be noted, 
may be traced in the various forms of automatism, 
beginning with simple reverie, and going on to 
crystal gazing, table-turning, and automatic writing. 
In such cases as a rule the control of the primary 
consciousness is not lost, but a parasitic secondary 
consciousness, a small dissociated area, has become 
active on its own account. 

Now the feeling of personal identity depends 
upon the memory of past and the consciousness of 
present sensations. Any change in these is liable 
to impair the sense of personality. That sense of 
personality is not seriously affected in sleep or in- 
toxication, partly because the states are familiar, 
partly no doubt because the consciousness is not 



284 Messages Through Trance 

so much changed as mutilated. But when the dis- 
sociation is of a sudden or unfamiHar kind, and 
especially when, to continue our metaphor, the 
lines of cleavage are mainly vertical, the sense of 
personal identity may be altogether lost. The pa- 
tient will in such a case feel that he is a different 
person, and will repudiate his former personality. 
This in fact is what frequently happens, not only 
in the more extreme pathologic cases, but even in 
profound hypnotism or in the spontaneous trance 
observed at spiritualistic seances. Even the talk- 
ing table will personify itself, and the hand of the 
automatic writer will frequently proclaim its sepa- 
rate individuality. The new consciousness will 
then speak of the normal personality as *'he" or 
**she" or the "medium"; and give to itself a won- 
derful new name. The name chosen will be apt to 
reflect the wishes of the entranced subject, or the 
prepossessions of the bystanders ; it may be that 
of a Hebrew prophet, one of Solomon's genii, an 
Indian chief, or a deceased friend of those present 
It is important to note, however, that this assump- 
tion of an alien personality speaking through the 
entranced person is made in many cases in good 
faith by all parties concerned. It is, in short, an 
inference from the observed phenomena, which is 
almost inevitably made by persons without special 
knowledge of the subject.^ The pseudo-personality 

• It must be admitted that this inference has been drawn in certain cases 
by observers whose training and special knowledge render them peculiarly 
qualified to form a judgment in such matters. In discussing the case of 
Miss Beauchaiup, for instance, Mr. W. M' Dougall explicitly rejects the 



Messages Through Trance 285 

will In many cases give proof of knowledge outside 
the range of the primary consciousness ; it may 
show traces of keener sensibiHties, and even of 
new faculties. Again, in some cases, it will act in 
opposition to its host. It will repudiate their com- 
mon identity; and will take pains to thwart the 
schemes made by the other self. This opposition 
of the primary and secondary consciousness occurs 
even in the simpler forms of automatism ; plan- 
chette will frequently write coarse or blasphemous 
expressions which are repugnant to the upper self. 
Extreme instances of opposition will be found in 
certain pathologic cases, especially in the mutual 
relations of the several ''personalities" incarnated 
in the body of Miss Beauchamp. Strange and 
almost incredible as are some of the things re- 
corded, they seem to represent no more than an 
exaggerated form of the struggle between oppos- 
ing tendencies which is constantly taking place in 
human life — a struggle which forms indeed the 
very basis of moral evolution. 

Thus, when the secondary personality assumes 
the name of a deceased friend of those present, 
mimics his attitude, his gestures and ways of speak- 
ing, and the external features of his personality, 

view taken by Dr. Morton Prince himself, that " Sally" is to be regarded as 
merely a by-product of the patient's mental disintegration, a split-off group 
of states of consciousness. In Mr. M' Dougall's view, if the facts are cor- 
rectly recorded, the personality named " Sally" must be regarded as "a 

psychic being or entity distinct from that of the normal Miss B " : in 

short, if I understand him rightly, an invading or obsessing spirit. 
{^Proceedings, S. P. R., xix., pp. 410 sqq.) 



286 Messages Through Trance 

the recollection of the extraordinary self-consistency 
and fidelity with which some entranced subjects 
will act out impersonations of historic characters 
compels us to be cautious in endorsing the au- 
thenticity of such representations. Even when the 
pseudo-personality shows an intimate knowledge 
of the life and family affairs of the deceased person 
whom it claims to represent, it may be of incidents 
almost passed from living memories, we are bound 
to consider whether the knowledge displayed could 
not have been gained by cunning guesses, or tele- 
pathically from the minds of the living friends pre- 
sent in the room. There are, however, as will be 
seen later, instances on record which are difficult 
to reconcile with this explanation. And there are 
a few cases where information has been given by 
the pseudo-personality which could not apparently 
have been within the knowledge of any living mind. 
Such instances are, however, at present scanty and 
ambiguous ; at most, therefore, in view of the mo- 
mentous issues involved, they may perhaps be held 
to justify suspension of judgment. 

After this preface we will pass to consider some 
examples of messages received in some form of 
trance or automatism, or, at lowest, when there is 
reason to suspect some slight dissociation of con- 
sciousness. Sometimes the state of reverie is pre- 
sent in what seems a condition of normal wakefulness. 
At any rate the lapse from ordinary consciousness 
may be so slight that the percipient is not aware 
of any change, and is able to observe and record 



Messages Through Trance 287 

his own impressions as if in full possession of his 
waking faculties. Some of the telepathic impres- 
sions cited in previous chapters appear to have 
been received when the percipient was in a reverie 
of this character. 1 Crystal visions, it is probable, 
generally imply some lapse from normal wakeful- 
ness. Indeed, as already said, some writers are of 
opinion that any subjective vision, whether or not 
attaining to the proportion of an actual hallucina- 
tion, involves a greater or less degree of dissociation 
of consciousness. In case No. 50, Chapter X., the 
description would certainly imply marked diverg- 
ence from the normal state ; but as the experience 
recorded by Miss Whiting took place when she was 
in bed, after, as she supposes, she had been awakened 
from sleep, we should perhaps hardly be justified 
in regarding it as other than a dream. In the follow- 
ing case we have an example of self-induced reverie. 
The narrator is a member of the Society for Psy- 
chical Research who has long studied psychical 
phenomena, and is well known as an accurate and 
impartial investigator. He has for some years 
made a careful study of his own mental processes ; 
and [ for the purpose of receiving telepathic im- 
pressions, he has cultivated with some success a 
passive attitude which he has found favourable to 
their reception, whilst still permitting him to exer- 
cise his powers of observation and judgment. The 
following is one of many apparently veridical im- 
pressions in his experience. 

* See, tf. ^., No. 15, Chapter III. 



288 Messages Through Trance 

No. 62. From Mr. C Rio de Janeiro 

[The record from which this particular incident is extracted 
is dated May, 190 1, but the account is based upon contem- 
porary notes.] 

On the 22nd May, 1896, Mr. C, whilst having his hair cut, 
talked over some psychical experiences with the hairdresser, 
Senor Guimaraes. The latter mentioned some incidents in 
connection with his dead wife. C. received the impression 
that the wife's name was Maria — and that white flowers had 
been strewn over her in her coffin. Both impressions were 
correct. The name is of course too common to make the 
coincidence of any particular significance ; but white flowers, 
it is noted, are not generally used in Brazil at the funeral of 
a married woman. C. further was impressed to draw a pro- 
file, which Senor Guimaraes recognised as strikingly like the 
dead woman. Mr. C. then continues: 

"On May 26th C* sat alone in his sleeping-room trying for 
automatic writing. He wrote the name * Maria,* and after- 
wards ' Guimaraes.' Having asked for further proofs of iden- 
tity, the experimenter sought for an answer rather in visual 
terms than in the disconnected and partly illegible words 
traced by his hand on the paper. Thereupon came dim frag- 
mentary images of ships ; he imagined himself under the 
bows of an ocean steamer ; then his vision was focussed for 
a moment or so on a distant vessel thrown on her beam ends 
in a rough sea so that the deck was visible. He had an 
idea that she carried many people on board. Immediately 
afterwards a boat with green bows was pictured coming up 
over a large wave. She was also full — perhaps she was bringing 
away persons from the endangered vessel. There was nothing 
vivid or decided in all this. The series was more like the 
faint memory images of events far removed in time. Mean- 
while C. had scrawled on the paper, among much that was 

* Journal, S. P. R,, March, 1902, pp. 204-08. 

* The account, though written by C. himself, is thrown for convenience 
into the third person. 



Messages Through Trance 289 

illegible, the words *bornt' and *swound,' probably misspellings 
of 'burnt* and 'swooned.* From these inklings of passive 
and motor automatism he drew, with anything but confidence, 
the following conclusions: Maria Guimaraes had been in some 
shipwrecked or burning vessel ; she had been taken off in a 
boat that was painted green ; she fainted on the occasion. 
The whole affair seemed to be so very improbable that C. hesi- 
tated to speak to Senor Guimaraes about it.*' 

On the 30th May, however, C. related his im- 
pression to Senor Pinto, who immediately (t. e,, 
within an hour) made a written note of C.'s vision — 
** a ship being wrecked and persons who were being 
saved in a boat." C. thereupon told his vision to 
Senor Guimaraes, who replied that his wife had, 
before their marriage, been shipwrecked with her 
mother; that they had been taken off in a boat, 
Dona Maria in a fainting condition. Senor Gui- 
maraes was married in 1873, shortly after his wife's 
arrival in Brazil from Sao Miguel. He could not 
himself remember the name of the wrecked ship, 
but his daughter thought it was the Maria da 
Gloria. In fact it was ascertained that in 1873, 
the year of Signora Guimaraes's arrival in Brazil, 
and on a date corresponding to that of her voyage, 
a vessel named Maria da Gloria, trading between 
the Azores and Brazil, had, after touching at Sao 
Miguel, sprung a leak, so that the passengers had 
to be landed in boats. The vessel was not, how- 
ever, lost. 

It would thus appear that C. received an impres- 
sion of a striking and unusual incident which had 
taken place many years before in the life of a dead 



290 Messages Through Trance 

person whom he had never seen. No details how- 
ever seem to have been given which could not have 
been derived from the mind of the widower. 

More generally, however, messages of this kind, 
purporting to emanate from the dead, are received 
either when the ** medium " is in a state of trance, 
or if awake, through some form of automatic action. 
The simplest form of automatism, and that which 
seems the easiest to cultivate, is the movement of 
the table in tilting out messages by means of the 
alphabet, or the movement of some instrument like 
Ouija, with a pointer and a dial. An instrument 
of this kind, consisting of a sliding rod and an al- 
phabet board, was the means of communication in 
the following case. The account was procured by 
the American Branch of the Society. 

No. 6$. From Judge W. D. Harden ' 

345 W. 34th St., New York, October 3rd, 1888. 

Major Lucius B. died at Savannah, Georgia, on the ist April, 
1888. His widow sent on the i6th April the following state- 
ment to Judge Harden. 

"In compliance with your request I will state: After my 
honoured husband Major Lucius B.'s departure from this life, 
I was in distress of mind that none could understand but one 
surrounded by similar circumstances. Of his business trans- 
actions I knew but little. After a week or two of stunning 
agony, I aroused myself to look into our financial condition. 
I was aware that he had in his keeping a note given by Judge 
H. W. Hopkins to some several hundred which was due, and 
I searched all the nooks and corners of his secretaire, manu- 
script, letters, memorandum-books, read several hundred 
letters ; but all for naught. For two months I spent most of 

' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. viii., pp. 239-41. 



Messages Through Trance 291 

the time going over and over, but with the same result. I 
finally asked him at a seance about the note. 

" Q. : 'Have you deposited the note anywhere?* A.: *I 
have.* 

" Q. : ' Where ? ' No answer. 

[Mrs B. wrote to Judge Hopkins that the note could not be 
found. But the following Sunday she and her daughter tried 
to get a communication through the little instrument described.] 

" After a little conversation we put our hands on the rod and 
it promptly spelt * Look in my long drawer and find Willie.* 
I became excited, ran to the bureau and pulled out the bottom 
drawer, turned the contents upon the floor, and commenced to 
search. Under all the things was a vest ; in its little breast 
pocket was the note. 

" Major B. was in the habit of calling the bottom drawer, 
where only his undergarments were kept, * My long drawer,' 
to designate it from several small drawers set aside for his use. 
The vest was the only garment, other than underwear, in the 
drawer. The vest was the one taken off him when he first 
became ill. He was unconscious during the first day of his 
illness. The vest was put in the drawer after or during his 
illness by my friend, I think, who assisted in caring for him 
while sick. 

" The drawer had not been opened that we knew of after he 
left us until the note was discovered. Although I had moved 
to another room, I gave instructions that the bottom drawer 
was not to be disturbed. 

" As soon as the rod spelt * Look in my long drawer and find 
Willie,* I was perfectly electrified with the knowledge that 
Willie H.*s note was in that drawer, although I never would 
have thought of looking in such a place for a valuable paper. 

*' Major B. and myself always spoke to and of Judge H. as 
* Willie,* he being a relation of mine and a favourite of Major 
B. from Willie's childhood.** 

The account is confirmed by Miss Nina B., who 
appends her initials. Dr. Louis Knorr, of Savannah, 



292 Messages Through Trance 

writes to say that Miss Nina B. went round on the 
same afternoon to tell him of the discovery of the 
note ; as he was out he did not actually hear 
the news until later. Mrs. B. knows the event was 
on a Sunday but cannot remember the exact date ; 
but Dr. Knorr is able to fix it as having been either 
on the 13th or 20th May. 

We have several records in which the fact of a 
death, unknown to any of those present, has been 
announced at a spiritualistic seance. In the fol- 
lowing case, which was carefully recorded at the 
time by Professor Aksakof, of St. Petersburg, the 
announcement was conveyed through automatic 
writing. 

No. 64. From Professor Aksakof ' 

On Jan. 19th, 1887, the engineer Kaigorodoff, of Wilna, 
called on Professor Aksakof and informed him that his Swiss 
governess, Mdlle. Emma Stramm, who was in the habit of 
writing automatically, had received at a stance held in his 
presence at Wilna, on Jan. 15th at 9 p. m., a message written 
in French stating that August Duvanel was dead, the cause 
of death being stated as a clot of blood (^engorgement de 
sang). M. Aksakof saw the original communication and made 
a note of the occurrence. 

In four days Mdlle. Stramm received a letter from her father 
giving the news in the same words ; his letter was shown to 
Professor Aksakof a few days after its receipt. August Du- 
vanel had been a suitor of Mdlle. Stramm, and she had in fact 
come to Russia in 1881 to escape from him and her parents* 
importunity. She had not seen or heard of him since her 
departure. In 1882 Duvanel had left Neufchatel, where the 

' The account, which is given at great length in the Psychisrhe Studien 
for Feb., 1887, and in Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol.vi., pp. 343 sqq., is here 
briefly summarised. 



Messages Through Trance 293 

Stramms lived, and gone to Canton Zurich. On Jan. 15th, 
1887, living at the time alone in a small hamlet remote from 
his friends, August Duvanel, as M. Aksakof afterwards learnt, 
died by his own hand. The death, by Wilna time, took place 
at 4.30 p. M.— about five hours before the news was received 
by Mdlle. Stramm in Wilna. The Stramm family at Neufchatel 
did not hear of the death until two days later. No one was 
with Duvanel when he died ; nor would his relations, in any 
event, have been likely to send a telegram on the subject to 
Mdlle. Stramm in Russia. Nor could such a telegram, if sent, 
have been received, so M. Kaigorodoff assured M. Aksakof, 
without his knowledge. The most puzzling feature in the 
case remains to be noted. M. Stramm when he wrote to his 
daughter on the i8th Jan. knew of the circumstances of the 
death ; but to avoid causing her a shock, he ascribed it to 
engorgement de sang^ using the same words as those given in 
the automatic writing ; which professed to be dictated by the 
scribe's spirit brother, Louis. 

The facts are fully attested by Professor Aksa- 
kof s contemporary notes ; so that, short of im- 
puting deliberate deception to the automatist, there 
seems to be no possible explanation which does 
not at the least involve telepathy. But such an 
interpretation presents, as will be seen, consider- 
able difficulty. For a discussion of the interpre- 
tation of the case on the assumption of spirit 
communication the reader is referred to Mr. Myers's 
comments.^ 

In the following case the "message" was re- 
ceived in the borderland between sleep and waking. 
The percipient's state seems to have been inter- 
mediate between that of the waking automatist, 
who, as in the cases just recorded, would appear to 

^Proceedings, vi., pp. 348-9. 



2 94 Messages Through Trance 

be almost or altogether In possession of his normal 
senses, and the entranced medium, in whom the 
primary consciousness is altogether in abeyance. 
It is interesting to note that some of the most 
striking ** test " communications are received from 
Mrs. Piper's lips at the moment when she is 
emerging from the trance. 

No. 65. From Mr. John E. Wilkie' (Chief of the Secret 
Service Department at Washington) 

" Washington, April nth, 1898. 

"In October, 1895, while living in London, England, I was 
attacked by bronchitis in rather a severe form, and on the advice 
of my physician, Dr. Oscar C. De Wolf, went to his residence 
in 6 Grenville Place, Cromwell Road, where I could be under 
his immediate care. For two days I was confined to my bed, 
and about five o'clock in the afternoon of the third day, feel- 
ing somewhat better, I partially dressed myself, slipped on a 
heavy bath robe, and went down to the sitting-room on the 
main floor, where my friend, the doctor, usually spent a part 
of the afternoon in reading. A steamer chair was placed 
before the fire by one of the servants, and I was made com- 
fortable with pillows. The doctor was present, and sat imme- 
diately behind me reading. I dropped off into a light doze, 
and slept for perhaps thirty minutes. Suddenly I became 
conscious of the fact that I was about to awaken ; I was in 
a condition where I was neither awake nor asleep. I realised 
fully that I had been asleep, and I was equally conscious of 
the fact that I was not wide awake. While in this peculiar 
mental condition I suddenly said to myself: * Wait a minute. 
Here is a message for the doctor.' At the moment 1 fancied 
that 1 had upon my lap a pad of paper, and I thought I wrote 
upon this pad with a pencil the following words : 

*' ' Dear Doctor: Do you remember Katy McGuire, who 

» Journal, S. P. R., July, 1898. 



Messages Through Trance 295 

used to live with you in Chester? She died in 1872. She 
hopes you are having a good time in London.' 

" Instantly thereafter I found myself wide awake, felt no sur- 
prise at not finding the pad of paper on my knee, because I 
then realised that that was but the hallucination of a dream, 
but impressed with that feature of my thought which related 
to the message, I partly turned my head, and, speaking over 
my shoulder to the doctor, said : * Doctor, I have a message 
for you.* 

" The doctor looked up from the British Medical Journal 
which he was reading, and said : * What 's that ? ' 

" * I have a message for you,' I repeated. * It is this : " Dear 
Doctor: Do you remember Katy McGuire, who used to live 
with you in Chester? She died in 1872. She hopes you are 
having a good time in London.' " 

*' The doctor looked at me with amazement written all over 

his face, and said : * Why, what the devil do you 

mean ? ' 

" ' I don't know anything about it except that just before I 
woke up I was impelled to receive this message which I have 
just delivered to you.' 

** ' Did you ever hear of Katy McGuire ? ' asked the doctor. 

** ' Never in my life.' 

" * Well,' said the doctor, * that 's one of the most remarkable 
things I ever heard of.' " 

Dr. De Wolf writes : 

" 6 Grenville Place, Cromwell Road, S. W., May 4th, 1898. 
" Dear Sir : Mr. Wilkie's statement is correct except as to 
unimportant details. My father practised his profession of 
medicine in Chester, Mass., for sixty years — dying in 1890. I 
was born in Chester and lived there until 1857, when I was in 
Paris studying medicine for four years. In 1861 I returned 
to America and immediately entered the army as surgeon and 
served until the close of the war in 1865. In 1866 I located 
in Northampton, Mass., where I practised my profession until 
1873, when I removed to Chicago. 



296 Messages Through Trance 

" Chester is a hill town in Western Massachusetts, and North- 
ampton is seventeen miles distant. While in Northampton I 
was often at my father's house — probably every week — and 
during some of the years from 1866 to 1873 I knew Katy 
McGuire as a servant assisting my mother. 

" She was an obliging and pleasant girl and always glad to 
see me. She had no family in Chester and I do not know 
where she came from. Neither do I know where or when she 
died — but I know she is dead." 

Dr. De Wolf adds that Mr. Wilkie was never 
within five hundred miles of Chester. He adds : 
" Neither of us were believers In spiritual mani- 
festations of this character, and this event so 
impressed us that we did not like to talk about 
it, and it has been very seldom referred to when 
we met." 

It must be borne in mind that the record was 
made three years after the incident. Moreover, 
Dr. De Wolf, in answer to our first letter and be- 
fore receiving from us Mr. Wilkie's account, pro- 
fessed to be unable to "recall with any definite 
recollection " the circumstances. But there seems 
little reason to doubt the substantial accuracy of 
the narrative. We cannot, of course, absolutely 
exclude the possibility that Mr. Wilkie had at one 
time heard of these details of his friend's early life. 
The two had met, as Dr. De Wolf tells us, soon 
after his removal to Chicago in 1873, when the 
memory of Kitty McGuIre would have been still 
comparatively recent. But In the circumstances 
such an explanation can scarcely be held as 
plausible. 



Messages Through Trance 297 

In the next case the percipient was fully en- 
tranced. It will be observed that she did not claim 
to be ** possessed," but only to be in communica- 
tion with spirits of the dead. 

No. 66. From Dr. O. Vidigal, San Paulo, Brazil. 

[a second-hand account of the case, translated from the 
Revut SpiritCy appeared in the spiritualist newspaper Light for 
March 21st, 1896. Subsequently Dr. Hodgson investigated 
the case, and the testimony of the chief witnesses was obtained 
both orally and in writing. Dr. Vidigal, his wife, Mr. Edward 
Silva and his daughter were seen and their evidence obtained 
in June, 1896. The original account, drawn up after Dr. 
Hodgson's inquiries, and printed in the Journal^ S. P. R., for 
October, 1898, is extremely long. A brief summary of the 
case is therefore printed here.] 

In September, 1893, Dr. Vidigal went to the Emigration 
Dep6t and engaged as a servant a young Spanish girl of ten 
or twelve years of age, who had arrived in Brazil only a day 
or two previously. Very soon after her arrival at Dr. Vidigal's 
house (perhaps on the same evening) she was hypnotised by a 
visitor, Mr. Edward Silva, at the request of Dona Vidigal's 
mother, who asked that the girl should try to see what was go- 
ing on at her hacienda some miles distant. Instead of replying 
to the questions put to her, however, the girl had visions on 
her own account : — beautiful sights as she described them. 
She then professed to get into communication with her own 
father. Later she gave a message purporting to proceed from 
Dr. Vidigal's mother, who had died on the i6th June, some 
three months before the date of the seance. The message 
was to the effect that the deceased lady had left a sum of 75 
milreis (between ;^3 and ;^4) in the pocket of a dress which 
was still hanging in her room. Most of the dead lady's ward- 
robe had been given away ; but two drnsses still remained in 
the room. The room had not, it is believed, been entered 
since her death ; and nothing was known of the existence of 



298 Messages Through Trance 

the sum of money. In fact the family were rather straitened 
at the time and in want of money. Dona Julia (Dr. Vidigal's 
wife), with another lady, went straightway to the room and 
found sewn up in one of the two dresses the exact sum of 
money described. 

From the careful enquiry into this case, there 
can be Httle doubt that the circumstances are cor- 
rectly stated. And it is extremely difficult to sup- 
pose that the fact communicated was known to any 
living person. Mr. Silva, it should be added, had 
made the acquaintance of Dr. Vidigal only a short 
time previously, and had never known the deceased 
lady. None of Dr. Vidigal's family had entered 
the room in which his mother had died since her 
death, and he is satisfied that none of the servants 
would do so. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE CASE OF MRS. PIPER 

FROM the sporadic instances of automatic com- 
munications cited in the last chapter we will 
pass to consider the detailed records which have 
been preserved of the utterances of certain persons 
who have systematically practised automatism. Of 
these records the most valuable, from the informa- 
tion which it may be expected ultimately to furnish 
as to the nature and working of the automatic pro- 
cesses, is the account of her own script kept by Mrs. 
Verrall, Classical Lecturer at Newnham College, 
known also as the translator of Pausanias. I have 
used the words ** may be expected to furnish " ad- 
visedly, for Mrs. Verrall's experiments are still pro- 
ceeding, and careful and exhaustive as is the record 
of the actual script and all the attendant circum- 
stances, the problems presented seem to increase 
in complexity with the increase of material offered 
for solution. Mrs. Verrall, who has made success- 
ful experiments in thought transference, and also 
in crystal gazing and other forms of automatism, 
began in January, 1901, to endeavour to obtain 
automatic writing. At first she met with little suc- 
cess, but on the 5th of March of the same year, 

299 



300 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

when sitting In the dark, the pencil In her hand 
wrote rapidly a page or two (about 80 words) of 
Latin. From this time forward Mrs. Verrall has 
written frequently. She Is conscious of the mean- 
ing of the actual word at the moment of writing, 
but it Is forgotten almost as soon as written, and 
she never realises the drift of the whole passage 
until It Is read through after completion. It is 
clear, therefore, that the messages so written are not 
composed by her ordinary consciousness. The 
script, as said, began with Latin, and Latin for 
long continued to be the chief language of the 
communications. Greek also appeared, but not so 
frequently ; most of the communications now are 
written In English. Mrs. Verrall reads and speaks 
French fluently ; and Is also acquainted with Italian 
and German, but only a few words or phrases In 
any of these languages have appeared. Mrs. Ver- 
rall Is constantly employed In reading and teaching 
Latin or Greek, and is, of course, well acquainted 
with both languages. But the Latin and Greek 
employed In the script are by no means the Latin 
and Greek which she would herself use. The 
Greek, In particular, not only contains many words 
unknown to classical Greek, but words not to be 
found In any dictionary, or words Greek In form 
but having apparently no meaning. Both In form 
and content, moreover, some of the Greek re- 
sembles the writings of the Neo-Platonlsts (Plo- 
tinus, Macroblus, etc.), with whom, until recently, 
Mrs. Verrall was entirely unacquainted. Speaking 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 301 

generally the messages are apt to be incoherent, allu- 
sive, and enigmatical. Many are extremely difficult 
to interpret. As regards their source, in no case 
does the writing purport to proceed from Mrs. 
Verrall herself ; it is apparently addressed to her, 
but the statements are frequently impersonal in 
form, and are rarely signed. In some cases the 
signature or initials of a dead person are appended. 
There is very little evidence, however, to prove the 
identity of the persons purporting to communicate. 
On the other hand, the writing in many cases seems 
to show knowledge of the thoughts and experiences 
of others which Mrs. Verrall could not have ac- 
quired by normal means. 

In the following case it would appear that the 
intelligence which inspired Mrs. Verrall's script was 
able to satisfy a test propounded by Dr. Hodgson 
on the other side of the Atlantic. 

No. 67. From Mrs. Verrall 

On the 31st January, 1902, Mrs. Verrall, when about to 
accompany Sir Oliver Lodge and Mr, Piddington to a meet- 
ing, was seized with a sudden desire to write, and withdrew 
for the purpose. The writing produced was as follows : 

"Panopticon Gcpaipa^ ariTaXXei (jvvdsyjua /av^tikov. 
ri ovK ididaog^ volatile ferrum — pro telo impinget." 

The writing was shown to Dr. Verrall on the following day, 
but neither he nor Mrs. Verrall could interpret its significance. 
The first word. Panopticon, though not an actual Greek word, 
is derived from the Greek, and presumably means " all 
seeing."* The third word in the sentence is rare, the fourth, 

' The word Panopticon was used by Bentham to denote a building (school 
or prison) so constructed that a single person in the centre could supervise a 



302 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

though correctly formed is not found in any extant Greek 
writing. The whole sentence appears to mean, " The all-seeing 
of the sphere fosters a mystic joint-reception. Why did you not 
give it ? The flying iron [" iron " used for *' weapon "] will hit." 
Volatile ferrum (literally "the flying iron ") is used by Virgil 
for a spear, and Mrs. Verrall recorded in her note-book that 
the word was probably meant to be translated *' spear." 

In Boston, U. S. A., on the 28th January, three days be- 
fore this incident, Dr. Hodgson held a sitting with Mrs. 
Piper, the well-known trance medium, at which an allusion 
was made by the " control " ' to Mrs. Verrall's daughter. 
Hodgson asked if the " control" could make Miss Helen Ver- 
rall see him (/.<?., the " control ") holding a spear in his hand. 
The control asked, through the automatic writing, " Why a 
sphere ? " and Hodgson repeated ^^spear.'* At the next sitting, 
on February 4th, the control claimed that he had made him- 
self visible to Miss Verrall with a ** sphear " (so spelt in the 
trance writing). 

It is certainly difficult to avoid the conclusion 
that Mrs. Verrall's script of the 31st January, — 
a date intermediate between these two seances, — 
with its curious enigmatical allusions to " sphere " 
and ** spear," had reference to this transatlantic 
experiment.^ 

In another case the message given purported 
definitely to come from the dead. Mrs. Verrall, 

number of radiating galleries or rows of desks. The late Millbank prison 
was constructed on the Panopticon principle. See Wallas' Life of Francis 
Place, p. 104. 

' I.e. the spirit assumed to be controlling, or speaking through Mrs. Piper's 
organism. The control had already claimed to have some knowledge of 
Miss Verrall — hence the introduction of her name in the test, instead of 
Mrs. Verrall's. For an account of Mrs. Piper's trance communications, see 
the latter part of this chapter. 

^Proceedings, S.P.R., vol. xx., p. 214. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 303 

in December, 1900, had made the acquaintance of 
Mrs. ** Forbes," also an automatic writer ; and 
thenceforward their respective scripts contained 
many apparent allusions to each other's concerns. 
One of the " controls" purporting to communicate 
through Mrs. Forbes was her son Talbot — who 
had been killed in the Boer War. 

No. 68. From Mrs. Verrall 

Mrs. Verrall had no communication with Mrs. Forbes 
between i6th April, and October, 1901. But on the 28th 
August of that year her hand wrote : 

** Signa sigillo. Conifera arbos in horto iam insita omina 
sibimet ostendit." ^ 

" The script," Mrs. Verrall writes, '' was signed with a 
scrawl and three drawings representing a sword, a suspended 
bugle, and a pair of scissors ; thus : 




0"C 

^ 



*' A suspended bugle surmounted by a crown is the badge of 
the regiment to which Talbot Forbes belonged. Mrs. Forbes 
has in her garden four or five small fir-trees grown from seed 
sent to her from abroad by her son ; these are called by her 
Talbot's trees. This fact was entirely unknown to me. On 
August 28th Mrs. Forbes' script contained the statement, 
purporting to come from her son, that he was looking for a 

^ Trans.'. " Sign with the seal. The fir-tree that has already been 
planted in the garden gives its own portent." 



304 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

* sensitive ' who wrote automatically, in order that he might 
obtain corroboration for her own writing, and it concluded 
with the remark that he must now leave her in order to join 
E.G. in controlling the sensitive. The hour of her writing on 
August 28th does not appear, but as she usually writes early 
in the day, and as mine of the same date was at 10.30 p.m., it 
is probable that hers preceded mine. 

'* It thus appears that on a certain day * Talbot Forbes ' in 
Mrs. Forbes' script declared that he was seeking and implied 
that he had found another automatic writer through whom to 
communicate with her.* On the same day a statement was 
made in my script about fir-trees planted in a garden which 
had a meaning for Mrs. Forbes, and a special connexion with 
her automatic experiments, and the signature of this script, to 
which attention had been directed, represented partially the 
badge of Talbot Forbes' regiment, together with a sword.' 
As bearing on the question whether such a combination is 
likely to have been accidental, I may say that on no other 
occasion has a bugle appeared in the script, nor has there been 
any other reference to a planted fir-tree." ' 

The coincidence of the two writings was only 
brought to Hght accidentally. In November, owing 
to Mrs. Forbes, In talking with Mrs. Verrall about 
her son, happening to describe the regimental 
badge. Mrs. Verrall then remembered the draw- 
ing above reproduced, which had puzzled her at 
the time. The nail from which the bugle is hung 
is clearly Indicated In the original.^ 

* The actual words are, / am looking for a sensitive who writes to tell 
Father to believe I can write through yoii. . , . I have to sit with our 
friend Edmund to control the sensitive, — (Signed with Talbot Forbes's 
initials.) 

' No explanation of the open scissors has been suggested. 

' Except once subsequently, on November 27th, 1901, after verification of 
the incident, when it was quoted as an encouragement. 

^ Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. xx., 222. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 305 

In two or three instances Mrs. Verrall's script has 
apparently referred to future events. An example 
of these prophetic intimations will be given in the 
next chapter. 

Mrs. Verrall, it will have been observed, during 
the process of automatic writing retains her or- 
dinary consciousness, and whatever view we may 
hold of the nature of the ** communicator," it seems 
probable that this circumstance tends to embarrass 
the process of communication. At any rate the 
most striking messages of this type have been ob- 
tained when the automatist is in a condition of 
trance, and the ordinary personality altogether in 
abeyance, as in the instance of Dr. Vidigals servant 
cited in the last chapter. Other cases of the kind, 
in which messages purporting to emanate from the 
dead have been given have been investigated, of re- 
cent years by the Society for Psychical Research.^ 
But isolated instances possess comparatively little 
weight, partly because we can rarely be sure of the 
adequacy of the record, if it stands alone, but 
chiefly because of the much greater scope offered 
for chance coincidence, if only the successes are 
noted. What is desired in such cases is a full 
record of all the utterances of the entranced per- 
son, such as Mrs. Verrall has kept of her own 
automatic writing. A few such records had been 
kept before 1882. Two of the most notable are 

^ See, especially, the case of Wilson Quint, recorded in Proceedings, viii., 
206, Mr. Jobson's case {Journal, November, 1898), and the case recorded 
by Colonel Taylor and Mr. Piddington {Journal, July, 1903). 



3o6 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

those concerned with the utterances of Stainton 
Moses, and of Adele Maginot, the clairvoyant sub- 
ject of Alphonse Cahagnet, a French magnetist in 
the middle of the last century. In the case of Stain- 
ton Moses, however, it does not appear that any 
verifiable statements were given in his automatic 
writings as to facts outside the possible scope of 
the medium's knowledge. The dates, names, and 
other particulars could in every case have been 
procured from published biographies, the obituary 
notices in the newspapers, or equally accessible 
sources.^ 

The revelations of Adele Maginot are much 
more striking. Adele professed in the trance to 
see the figures of deceased friends of persons who 
came to consult her. She would describe with ac- 
curacy their personal appearance, character, and 
the diseases from which they had suffered, and 
could occasionally indicate something of their his- 
tory and their opinions. But all the verifiable de- 
tails given were known to the persons present ; and 
there seems no reason, in the case of Cahagnet's 
subject, to go beyond the hypothesis of thought 
transference from the living. 

The case of Mrs. Piper, the chief of the trance 
mediums whose utterances have been investigated 
by the Society for Psychical Research, presents a 
much more complicated problem. Mrs. Piper is an 

' See my discussion of these communications in Studies in Psychical Re- 
search, pp. 125-133. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 307 

American lady who first went into a spontaneous 
trance some time in 1884, at a consultation for 
medical purposes with a professional clairvoyant 
named Cocke. Her first control was an Indian 
girl named "Chlorine." Mrs. Piper from 1884 
onward has habitually fallen into a trance state. 
From the end of 1885 until the present time she 
has been almost continuously under the observation 
of the S. P. R., and for many years all her seances 
have been given under the guidance of Dr. Hodg- 
son or other members of the Society, and the re- 
sults carefully recorded. 

Mr. Cocke himself, the clairvoyant referred to, 
was accustomed to rely in his medical practice upon 
the ** spirit" of a French doctor named Finne. 
After several other "controls" — Mrs. Siddons, 
Longfellow, Commodore Vanderbilt, and John 
Sebastian Bach — had in turn usurped her organism, 
the chief control of Mrs. Piper's trance finally gave 
himself out as a French doctor named Phinuit — a 
name apparently suggested by that of Mr. Cocke's 
control. 

Dr. Phinuit's own account of himself is that he 
is a French physician, who was born at Marseilles 
about 1790, and died about i860. He has given 
various particulars about his birth, education, and 
life in Paris, but the enquiries which have been 
made have failed to reveal any trace of such a per- 
son as having lived and died as stated. Moreover, 
it appears that, though Phinuit is sometimes very 
felicitous in diagnosing the ailments of those who 



3o8 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

consult him, his medical knowledge Is extremely 
limited ; he does not know the Latin names of the 
various drugs which he prescribes, and cannot recog- 
nise common medicinal herbs when shown to him. 
In other words, he has given no indications of pos- 
sessing any scientific knowledge of medicine. 
Moreover, though professing to be the spirit of a 
French doctor, his knowledge of French appears to 
extend only to a few simple phrases, and a slight 
accent, occasionally serviceable in disguising a 
bad shot at a proper name. This ignorance of his 
native language Is, he explains, due to his having 
lived for some years In Metz, where there were 
many English residents ! When all these suspicious 
circumstances, especially the similarity between 
the names of FInn6 and Phlnult, were brought by 
Dr. Hodgson to Phinult's notice, that personage 
professed to remember that his real name was not 
after all Phlnult, but Alaen. Further, he betrayed 
some uncertainty whether he had been born at Mar- 
seilles or Metz, and whether he had passed the 
latter part of his life at Metz or Paris. It seems, 
then, that we need not seriously consider whether 
Phlnult Is In very deed the spirit he would be 
taken for. 

Mrs. Piper in ordinary life knows nothing of her 
sayings and doings In the trance state, and the 
above account Implies, of course, no reflection on 
her honesty. But In attempting to estimate the 
significance of the more striking impersonations 
which have characterised Mrs. Piper's later trances, 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 309 

it is important to remember that the first imper- 
sonation of the kind, though showing considerable 
dramatic coherence and individuaHty, was almost 
certainly fictitious. Mrs. Piper's clairvoyance is on 
the same general lines as that of Cahagnet's sub- 
ject. Her trance consciousness *' sees" or receives 
impressions from deceased friends of those who 
come to consult her. The messages which she 
gives generally purport to pass through the mind 
of the chief control. Phinuit, then for a time 
George Pelham, and now " Rector " and Richard 
Hodgson, have each in turn thus professed to act 
as interpreter and mouthpiece for the spirits of the 
dead who throng round the entranced medium. In 
her earlier trances the utterances were mostly oral. 
Since 1892 they have been mainly, and of late 
years almost entirely, written. The strictest pre- 
cautions have been taken to exclude the possibility 
of fraud ; for years past all sittings have been ar- 
ranged by some member of the Society for Psychical 
Research, the visitors have been introduced anony- 
mously or under assumed names ; and full notes 
have been taken of all the remarks made and other 
attendant circumstances. But the real proof that 
fraud is not the explanation lies in the nature of 
the revelations actually made. The things which 
a private enquiry agency could conceivably ascer- 
tain — names, dates, and other externals of personal 
history — are precisely the things which are gener- 
ally lacking in Mrs. Piper's communications. What 
she does give — descriptions of the diseases, personal 



o 



TO The Case of Mrs. Piper 



idiosyncrasies, thoughts, feeUngs, and characters of 
the sitter and his friends ; their loves, hates, quar- 
rels, sympathies, and mutual relationships; trivial 
but significant incidents in their past histories, 
and the like — are precisely the things on which 
private enquiry would find it most difficult to 
obtain information, and which would, further, 
be most difficult, when obtained, to preserve in the 
memory. 

But an illustration will make the case clearer. 
The Piper records are so voluminous, most of the 
sittings having been recorded in full, that it is im- 
possible to quote more than the records of a single 
sitting at length. I select the following case partly 
because the circumstance that the sitter was only 
on a visit to America practically rules out the possi- 
bility of private enquiry on Mrs. Piper's part into 
his circumstances, partly because the nature of the 
information given is in other ways significant. The 
narrator, Mr. J. T. Clarke, had left England, in the 
autumn of 1889, for a hurried business visit to 
America. There he had an interview with Mrs. 
Piper. Mr. Clarke had friends in Boston, 
some of whom had had sittings with Mrs. Piper, 
but his wife and children had never been in 
America. 

Notes of this stance were taken by Dr. Hodg- 
son, and Mr. Clarke after the seance added his 
comments. These comments, or the substance of 
them in an abbreviated form, are placed in the 
account which follows between brackets. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 311 

No. 69. From Mr. J. T. Clarke 
Chocorua, New Hampshire, in House of Dr. William James, 

September 20, 1889. 

Mr. Clarke fixes his mind steadily upon a certain house, 
and visualises members of family ; of this no recognition by 
medium, who begins : 

(i) "Why! I know you! I have seen your influence 
somewhere before ! What are you doing over here?" 

[Mr. Clarke explains that some intimate friends had had 
sittings with Mrs. Piper, in the course of which his name 
and that of his mother had been mentioned.] 

(2) " Oh ! There is lots of trouble over you, black clouds 
all over you ; but I see light beyond ; you will come out all 
right. It is financial trouble that I mean; you will wade 
through it all right in the end." 

[Correct. My visit to America was determined by a finan- 
cial failure, the loss from which I was then endeavouring to 
minimise.] 

" How long hence ?" 

(3) *' Four months or four months and a half. There are 
parties that have not dealt honourably with you." 

[Mr. Clarke adds that he had at the time a lurking distrust 
— afterwards proved to be unfounded — of the "parties" re- 
ferred to.] 

(4) " I see your lady in the spirit, your mother — have seen 
her before." 

[There followed a clear account of my own conception 
of my mother, recently deceased, whose constant presence 
in my mind readily accounts for the frequent mentions 
of her.] 

(5) ** You 've also got a lady in the body, your wife. You 
won't find her very well." 

[Prophecy wrong. My wife never better in health.] 

(6) " Do you know a man named Williams — no, wait ! 
Williamson ? [Reply, '* No."] Tall, rather dark, first name 
Henery [stc]. He will come into your surroundings soon — he 
will have something to do with your papers and with law. He 



312 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

will look after your interests and get you out all right. You will 
meet him very soon — within a few weeks." 

[Mr. Clarke had written down in his note-book some days 
previously the name of the lawyer — Lambertson — entrusted 
with his defence ; but had completely forgotten it.] 

(7) " Part of your interest is in the ground ; you came near 
being 'left' in this business, but are not altogether." 

[Correct. Property consisted of a town lot and buildings, 
and I certainly felt that I had come near losing it.] 
" Tell me about my mother." 

(8) "Your mother is with us. She is here and happy in 
the spirit." 

[This, I take it, is the way that mediums, burdened with the 
conventional views and the phrases customary in spiritualistic 
circles, find most natural to express the conception which 
they receive from another mind of a person being a memory, 
an image of the mind as opposed to a living reality.] 

(9) " Who is this M. your cousin ? Your mother says she is 
not very well. She is getting better, but she will continue 
weak." 

[The health of the person referred to, though improved at 
the time, had caused both myself and my mother much 
solicitude.] 

" Can you see my children ? " 

(10) "Wait. . . . Who is this about you that is musical, that 
plays the piano [imitating action of fingers] ? Ah, it is your 
lady in the body. She is not very well just now — she is suf- 
fering from rheumatism." 

[My wife plays the piano much. She was well and has 
never suffered from rheumatism.] 
" Do you see my children ?" 

(11) "No, not at all yet ; I shall directly. Wait. Who is 
this Fred, that comes together with your mother ? " 

[A cousin lost at sea ten years ago, under peculiarly shocking 
circumstances. His death made a great impression upon me.] 
" Is he not your cousin ? " 
"Yes." 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 313 

(12) " He comes with your mother. She knows him better 
now than she did before death. . . . Who is this uncle 
of yours, named John ? " 

" I have no uncle John." 

"Yes, yes, you have — the man that married your aunt." 

" No, you are wrong ; the man that married my aunt was 

called Philip." 

" Well, I think I know." [Changes subject, grumbling.] 
[I had entirely forgotten for the moment that an aunt of 

mine had indeed married a man named John, with whom I 

had formerly had some correspondence. I did not recollect 

this until the following day.] 

(13) "Why ! you are a funny fellow — you are covered with 
paint from head to foot. Your mother says it is too bad." 

[I had been much interested in painting the walls of a room 
in the house of my friend for some days previously.] 

(14) " I 'd like to know who this H. is that you are going to 
see. Take good care of that man. He is a tricky one. Don't 
let him get you into his power." 

[This is an altogether unjust accusation, based upon an 
unwarrantable distrust entertained by me at the time.] 

(15) *' Here is your Rebecca ! " 

[Clarke and Hodgson both ask " Mine ? " each having 
relatives of that name.] 

[To Clarke :] *' Your Rebecca, your little girl. She runs 
around and gives her hand to every one about her." 

" Is there another little one like her ?" 

" Yes, there are three of your people together there now." 

[My wife and two children.] 

(16) "How is Rebecca?" 
"Very well." 

" Where is she now ? " 

"She is in the spirit. That is to say, her spirit's here, but 
her body is at a distance." 

[My child was in Germany at the time, and thus lived 
rather in my memory than in my daily view. Hence, al- 
though the medium felt that she was alive (" Her body is at 



314 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

a distance ") her personality was yet spoken of as " in the 
spirit."] 

(17) " You will soon have a surprise. It is a photograph of 
your boy that is being made for you. It is unfinished yet, 
but will surprise you." 

[I was at that time taking photographs which were not to 
be developed, and consequently could not be seen, until my 
return to England.] 

(18) " There are five of you ; yourself, your two children, 
your lady in the body, and your lady in the spirit." 

[This is my constant feeling — the ** we are seven " of my 
surroundings.] 

(19) *' What are these tickets that you have in your pocket ? 
There are figures on them stamped in red, and they are 
signed with names underneath. They will be of value to you, 
you will get something out of them." 

" No, I have nothing of the kind in my pocket." 
[Mr. Clarke explains that he afterwards found he actually 
had in an inside pocket two cheques endorsed on the back as 
described, and stamped with large and peculiar red numbers.] 

(20) ** Where is my wife ? " 

" She is across country. She has been away." 
[My wife had intended to go to Germany, from England, 
soon after my sudden departure for the United States ; I did 
not positively know that she was away from home, but I 
should have assumed it as well-nigh certain.] 

(21) "There is a young man and an old lady with her." 
[There followed an accurate interpretation of my estimate 

of the characters of these two persons, who I knew must be 
together with my wife]. ". . . The young man is coming 
back again ; he is going still more across country." 

[Correct. I knew that my brother-in-law had to return 
from the Tyrol to his home on the Baltic] 

(22) . . . [Further reference to my mother, describing 
her character, and representing her as she lives in my 
memory.] ". . . That is an old-fashioned portrait of her, 
not very good, but better than nothing." — ** Where ? Which 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 315 

one ? " — " It is at home. I mean the one with the collarette.'* 
[A sufficient indication of one of the few portraits of my 
mother.] 

(23) " Who is this funny footed fellow of yours, the one with 
the club feet and the funny shoes? Your mother says it is 
an injustice to you, too bad — but it will come out all right.** 

[Correct. My boy was born with club feet, and wears 
machine boots.] 

(24) "Why ? You Ve changed your house recently.** 
**No.** 

"Yes, your lady has changed her house.*' 

"Well, you may mean that she is away from her house ; that 
is true. Now describe the house in which we live generally." 

" Yes. Wait a minute. I will go into the door at the side. 
What is that tall, old-fashioned thing in the back room ? Ah, 
it is a big clock." 

[Correct.] 

(25) " Now go into the kitchen." 

" Yes. No one is here now [lo p.m. in New Hampshire — 3 
A.M. in England]. A fat person, a cook, has been here. Big 
man, with a dark moustache, has also been here a good while 
during the day, and has left his influence here." 

"Who is he?" 

" He has been put to watch the place.** 

" Is he trustworthy and faithful ? " 

*• Yes, he is trustworthy.** 

[Interesting error. It was arranged on my leaving Eng- 
land — in case the servant should object to being left in the 
house alone during the absence of my wife in Germany — that 
a policeman should be hired to guard the house and to live in 
it. As a matter of fact, however, there was no man in the 
house] 

(26) " You have lost your knife ! Your mother tells me that.** 
[This loss had vexed me, as the knife had been made to 

order. I had lost it shortly before leaving England.] 

(27) "Where is it?" 

" Oh, it is gone ; you will never see it again.** 



3i6 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

[The prophecy proved to be signally wrong, as the knife was 
restored to me soon after my return.] 

(28) " Describe the other room on the ground floor now." 
"Yes. I see a long piano. What is that high thing that 

comes forward on top of the piano ? Ah, I see ; it is the lid." 
[Clock and piano are respectively chief features of the two 
rooms]. 

(29) " What colour is the wall paper of this room ? " 

" Let me see. It is yellowish with gold pattern and gold spots." 
[Correct.] 

" In short, many things that I knew, even some things that I 
had forgotten, the clairvoyant could tell me correctly, albeit 
somewhat confusedly. She made all the mistakes that I should 
have made at the time, and her prophecies were quite as erron- 
eous as any that I might have invented myself. 

" One sees the contents of one's mind, as in a warped and 
flawy mirror ; or, to take the case from the other side, the 
secondary consciousness of the medium seems able to get occa_ 
sional glimpses of the panorama of one's memory as through 
the rents in a veil. No doubt Phinuit gives the fullest and 
best results when left unquestioned to tell what he can. If 
pressed to fill up the broad expanses of the picture remaining 
between the patches which he sees, he is obliged, despite his 
pretensions to supernatural knowledge, to take refuge in awk- 
ward evasions and ' shuffling,' — in guesswork, often clearly 
based upon hints unconsciously afforded by the sitter, — or, 
when all else fails, in incoherent and unmeaning talk. Yet, 
while fully recognising these repelling features of the manifes- 
tations, I am yet convinced that there is enough that is genu- 
ine remaining to prove the existence of a direct communication 
between mind and mind during the trance state. A single 
success exceeding the limits of coincidence (and it is undeni- 
able that there are many such) proves the possibility ; the 
multitude of failures merely indicates the difficulty and un- 
certainty.' J. T. C." 

' Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. vi., pp. 569-574. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 3 1 7 

It will be seen that here most of the statements 
made, except those which concern the future, were 
correct. No true statement was made, however, 
on any matter not known to Mr. Clarke. We need 
not look further than telepathy for an explanation 
in such a case. Indeed, as Mr. Clarke points out, 
one or two of the statements made, though they 
failed to correspond to the facts of the case, sug- 
gest rather strongly that Phinult was reproducing 
the thoughts — conscious or latent — of the sitter. 

It is not so easy, however, to explain by thought 
transference the following case : 

No. 70. From Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S. 

** It happens that an uncle of mine in London, now quite an 
old man, and one of a surviving three out of a very large 
family, had a twin brother who died some twenty or more 
years ago. I interested him generally in the subject, and 
wrote to ask if he would lend me some relic of this brother. 
By morning post on a certain day I received a curious old 
gold watch, which this brother had worn and been fond of ; 
and that same morning, no one in the house having seen or 
knowing anything about it, I handed it to Mrs. Piper when in 
a state of trance. 

" I was told almost immediately that it had belonged to one 
of my uncles — one that had been mentioned before as having 
died from the effects of a fall — one that had been very fond 
of Uncle Robert, the name of the survivor — that the watch 
was now in possession of this same Uncle Robert, with whom 
he was anxious to communicate. After some difficulty and 
many wrong attempts Dr. Phinuit caught the name, Jerry, 
short for Jeremiah, and said emphatically, as if a third person 
was speaking : * This is my watch, and Robert is my brother, 
and I am here. Uncle Jerry, my watch.' All this at the first 
sitting on the very morning the watch had arrived by post, no 



3i8 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

one but myself and a shorthand clerk who happened to have 
been introduced for the first time at this sitting by me, and 
whose antecedents are well known to me, being present." 

[Then, in response to Sir O. Lodge's request for incidents 
in Uncle Jerry's boyhood, 60 or 70 years before] " Uncle 
Jerry recalled episodes, such as swimming the creek when they 
were boys together, and running some risk of getting drowned; 
killing a cat in Smith's field ; the possession of a small rifle, 
and of a long peculiar skin, like a snake-skin, which he thought 
was now in the possession of Uncle Robert. 

" All these facts have been more or less completely verified. 
But the interesting thing is that his twin brother, from whom 
I got the watch, and with whom I was thus in a sort of com- 
munication, could not remember them all. He recollected 
something about swimming the creek, though he himself had 
merely looked on. He had a distinct recollection of having 
had the snake-skin, and of a box in which it was kept, though 
he does not know where it is now. But he altogether denied 
killing the cat, and could not recall Smith's field. 

" His memory, however, is decidedly failing him, and he 
was good enough to write to another brother, Frank, living in 
Cornwall, an old sea captain, and asked if he had any better 
remembrance of the facts — of course not giving any inexplic- 
able reasons for asking. The result of this enquiry was tri- 
umphantly to vindicate the existence of Smith's field as a place 
near their home, where they used to play, in Barking, Essex ; 
and the killing of a cat by another brother was also recollected ; 
while of the swimming of the creek, near a mill-race, full 
details were given, Frank and Jerry being the heroes of that 
foolhardy episode."* 

This account may, indeed, conceivably be ex- 
plained as the result of a process of telepathic con- 
veyance from Sir Oliver Lodge's mind of things 
heard in boyhood and long ago forgotten. Sir O. 

' Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. vi., pp. 458-60. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 319 

Lodge himself, however, has no recollection of 
having heard of these incidents, and regards this 
explanation as extremely improbable. And it is 
clear that each fresh case to which this hypothesis 
has to be applied Increases the difficulty of the ex- 
planation. Sir O. Lodge enumerates In the Eng- 
lish observations of 1888-9 no less than forty-one 
instances In which details were reproduced by 
Phinuit which were " unknown to, or forgotten by, 
or unknowable to, persons present." ^ Some of 
these Incidents, no doubt, such as the episode of 
the red-stamped cheques In Mr. Clarke's case, readily 
suggest the telepathic transference of Ideas latent 
In the sitter's mind. But In a few Instances It Is not 
merely improbable that the facts mentioned by 
Phinuit should at any time have been within the 
knowledge of any persons present at the sitting, 
but, as in the account just quoted, the mode of 
presentation of the facts and the attendant circum- 
stances certainly lend some additional weight to an 
alternative hypothesis, that of spirit communica- 
tion. No doubt in view of Phlnuit's past history 
It Is right that the evidence derived from dramatic 
personation should be subject to a considerable 
discount. And, Indeed, partly on this account, and 
partly because the cases published up to the end of 
1892 which seemed to call for some other explana- 
tion than telepathy were few In number, the problem 
did not for a considerable time present itself in an 
urgent form. Of late years, however, a conslder- 

^ Proceedings, S.P.R., vol. vi., pp. 649-50. 



320 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

able addition has been made to the evidence. In 
February, 1892, there died in New York quite sud- 
denly, at the age of thirty-three, one George Pelham,i 
an author of some promise. He had been known 
personally to Dr. Hodgson, and had two years be- 
fore his death promised that if " still existing " after 
death he would do his utmost to prove the fact to 
Dr. Hodgson, should the latter survive him. 

Pelham was an associate of the American Branch 
of the Society for Psychical Research, and in 1888 
had had one sitting with Mrs. Piper, one of a 
series of sittings arranged by a committee. But the 
names of the sitters were carefully guarded by the 
committee : Pelham never attended another sitting, 
and never saw Mrs. Piper again. Moreover, de- 
spite the promise above referred to he had little 
interest in the question of a future life, thinking it, 
as Hodgson tells us, an almost inconceivable possi- 
bility. No allusion to Pelham was made at the 
sittings with Mrs. Piper, until the 22nd of March, 
1892, four or five weeks after his death. On that 
day, an intimate friend of his, John Hart,^ had 
arranged through Hodgson for a sitting. Hart's 
real name was not, of course, mentioned to Mrs. 
Piper. 

No. 71. From Mr. John Hart 

[At the commencement of the sitting there were some refer- 
ences, mostly correct, to deceased relatives of the sitter. 

' This name is substituted for the real name. 

' This name and most of the other names mentioned in connection with 
the " G. P." case, are assumed, Most of the witnesses were, however, known 
intimately by Dr. Hodgson and Mr. Myers. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 321 

Hart's own surname was also given in full. Then, shortly after 
a reference to a deceased Uncle George, whose watch had 
been brought to the sitting, Phinuit continued, according to 
Hodgson's report :] 

" There is another George who wants to speak to you. How 
many Georges are there about you any way ? " 

The rest of the sitting, until almost the close, was occupied 
by statements from G. P., Phinuit acting as intermediary. 
George Pelham's real name was given in full, also the names, 
both Christian and surname, of several of his most intimate 
friends, including the name of the sitter. 

Moreover, incidents were referred to which were unknown 
to the sitter or myself.* 

One of the pair of studs which J. H. was wearing was given 
to Phinuit. ..." (Who gave them to me ?) That *s 
mine. I gave you that part of it. I sent that to you. (When ?) 
Before I came here. That *s mine. Mother gave you that. 
(No.) Well, father then, father and mother together. You got 
those after I passed out. Mother took them. Gave them to 
father, and father gave them to you. I want you to keep 
them. I will them to you." Mr. Hart notes : " The studs 
were sent to me by Mr. Pelham as a remembrance of his son. 
I knew at the time that they had been taken from G.'s body, 
and afterwards ascertained that his stepmother had taken 
them from the body and suggested that they would do to send 
to me, I having previously written to ask that some little 
memento be sent to me." 

James and Mary [Mr. and Mrs.] Howard were mentioned 
with strongly personal specific references, and in connection 
with Mrs. Howard came the name Katharine. " Tell her, 
she'll know. I will solve the problems, Katharine." Mr. 
Hart notes : " This had no special significance for me at the 
time, though I was aware that Katharine, the daughter of Jim 

^ I. e, Hodgson, Vrho reports the incidents of the sitting. In the 
account which follows the statements made by the ' ' control " are put in 
inverted commas (" "); and Hart's interjected remarks in parentheses ( ). 
Hodgson's comments are in brackets [ ]. 



322 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

Howard, was known to George, who used to live with the 
Howards. On the day following the sitting, I gave Mr. 
Howard a detailed account of the sitting. These words, " I 
will solve the problems, Katharine," impressed him more than 
anything else, and at the close of my account he related that 
George, when he had last stayed with them, had talked fre- 
quently with Katharine (a girl of fifteen years of age) upon 
such subjects as Time, Space, God, Eternity, and pointed out 
to her how unsatisfactory the commonly accepted solutions 
were. He added that some time he would solve the problems, 
and let her know, using almost the very words of the com- 
munication made at the sitting." Mr. Hart added that he was 
entirely unaware of the circumstances. I was myself unaware 
of them, and was not at that time acquainted with the How- 
ards, and in fact nearly every statement made at the sitting, 
during which I was the note-taker, concerned matters of which 
I was absolutely ignorant. 

Meredith, an intimate friend of Mr. Hart and G. P., was 
mentioned. " Lent a book to Meredith. Tell him to keep it 
for me. Go to my room where my desk is." In reply to en- 
quiries (April, 1892) Meredith stated that the last time he saw 
Pelham was in Pelham's own room several months before the 
latter's death. They had spent the greater part of the day 
together, and Pelham had pressed Meredith to take away some 
of his manuscripts and books. Thus far the reference to 
Meredith seems to have been correct. But Meredith was un- 
able to remember definitely that he took any manuscript or 
book away. . . . 

[The communication then continues:] " John, if that is you, 
speak to me. Tell Jim I want to see him. He will hardly be- 
lieve me, believe that I am here. I want him to know where 
I am. . . . O good fellow. All got dark, then it grew light. 
Where is Uncle Will ? I met Uncle Willie, William. (I don*t 
know what you mean.) Ask mother. She '11 know." [G. P. had 
no Uncle William deceased. He had a deceased great-uncle 
William, on his mother's side, who was thus the uncle of his 
mother deceased and his stepmother living, who are sisters.] 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 323 

" Go up to my room. (Which room ?) Up to my room, 
where I write. I '11 come. Speak to me, John. (What 
room ?) Study. (You said something about a desk just now.) 
I left things all mixed up. I wish you 'd go up and straighten 
them out for me. Lot of names. Lot of letters. I left things 
mixed up. You answer them for me. Wish I could remember 
more, but I 'm confused. CLUB. Went to the Club. Two 
things at the Club to make right. (What Club ?) His band- 
er — (handkerchief.) Handkerchief. (What does he want 
with his handkerchief ?) I left it at the Club. (What Club ?) 
OUR. . . did you find it ? (Yes, no, you have n't told me at 
what Club.) I saw you there. It is n't like you, John. [The 
last time I saw G. was at the Players' Club in New York. — 
J.H.] 

"Who's Rogets ? [Phinuit tries to spell the real name.] 
(Spell that again.) [At the first attempt afterwards Phinuit 
leaves out a letter, then spells it correctly.] Rogers. (What do 
you want Rogers to get?) I want you to tell Rogers to get my 
handkerchief. I left it. He found it. Rogers has got a book 
of mine. (What is he going to do with it ?) " 

[Both Hart and G. P. knew Rogers, who at that time had a 
certain MS. book of G. P. in his possession. The book was 
found after G. P.'s death and given to Rogers to be edited. 
G. P. had promised during his lifetime that a particular dispo- 
sition should be made of this book after his death. This action 
which G. P. living had contemplated with regard to the book 
was here, and in subsequent utterances which from their pri- 
vate nature I cannot quote, enjoined emphatically and repeat- 
edly, and had it been at once carried out, as desired by G. P., 
much subsequent unhappiness and confusion might have been 
avoided. Neither Hart nor Rogers knows anything of the 
handkerchief incident.] 

Then followed references to one or two other 
friends and many personal statements of a nature 
too private to be quoted. Hardly a single state- 
ment was made at this sitting which was not ac- 



324 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

curate and relevant to the supposed personaHty of 
G. P. Hart, Hodgson tells us, was strongly im- 
pressed by the vraisemblance of the impersonation.^ 
On the nth April, 1892, the sitters were Mr. 
and Mrs. Howard, two of G. P.'s most intimate 
friends. The statements made were of an inti- 
mately personal nature, and the whole proceed- 
ings were regarded by the Howards as thoroughly 
characteristic of their deceased friend. All the state- 
ments made, and all the references to individuals, 
were correct and relevant. The following are 
extracts from Mr. Howard's notes taken during 
the sitting. The sitter's remarks are interpolated 
in parentheses. 

G. P. : Jim, is that you ? Speak to me quick. I am not 
dead. Don't think me dead. I 'm awfully glad to see you. 
Can *t you see me ? Don't you hear me ? Give my love to 
my father and tell him I want to see him. I am happy here, 
and more so since I find I can communicate with you. I pity 
those people who can't speak. ... I want you to know I 
think of you still. I spoke to John about some letters. I left 
things terribly mixed, my books and my papers ; you will for- 
give me for this, won't you ? . , . 

What is Rogers writing t 

(A novel.) 

No, not that. Is he not writing something about me ? 

(Yes, he is preparing a memorial of you.) 

That is nice ; it is pleasant to be remembered. It is very 
kind of him. He was always kind to me when I was alive. 
Martha Rogers [deceased daughter] is here. I have talked 
with her several times. She reflects too much on her last ill- 
ness, on being fed with a tube. We tell her she ought to 

' Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. xiii., p. 297. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 32 s 

forget it, and she has done so in good measure, but she was ill 
a long time. She is a dear little creature when you know 
her, but she is hard to know. She is a beautiful little soul. 
She sends her love to her father. . , . 

Berwick, how is he ? Give him my love. He is a good 
fellow ; he is what I always thought him in life, trustworthy 
and honourable. How is Orenberg ? He has some of my 
letters. Give him my warmest love. He was always very 
fond of me, though he understood me least of all my friends. 
We fellows who are eccentric are always misunderstood in 
life. I used to have fits of depression. I have none now. 
I am happy now. I want my father to know about this. We 
used to talk about spiritual things, but he will be hard to con- 
vince. My mother will be easier. ... * 

In brief, between twenty and thirty persons who 
were friends of G. P. in life had sittings with Mrs. 
Piper, at which communications were given, pur- 
porting to come from the deceased. Most of these 
communications were accurate, relevant, and char- 
acteristic ; many of them were of a kind too in- 
timately personal for publication. On more than 
one occasion incidents which had taken place at a 
distance, unknown to any one in the room, were 
described with approximate correctness. Refer- 
ences were constantly made to G. P. s affairs, his 
manuscripts, and personal effects, which betrayed 
an intimate acquaintance with his own concerns 
and those of his friends. Many long conversa- 
tions, partly by writing, and partly by voice, were 
held with Dr. Hodgson and other persons known 
to G. P. ; and throughout the trance-intelligence 
showed an individual personality — a personality, 

"^Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. xiii., pp. 300, 301. 



326 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

moreover, which was regarded by his friends as 
resembHng that of the deceased G. P. Many of 
these friends were convinced that they had been 
conversing with George Pelham himself. One of 
the most striking proofs of Identity Is this. As 
said, between twenty and thirty friends of G. P. 
visited Mrs. Piper, all under assumed names. In 
no case did G. P. fail to recognise them, and to 
recognise them with the appropriate emotional 
or intellectual relations. In no case did he 
make a mistake, and claim acquaintance with a 
stranger. 

During the years 1892-97 other communicators 
took control and furnished proofs of Identity, some 
of them of an Impressive kind. Of late years, how- 
ever, the communications appear to have fallen off 
considerably in clearness and relevance. In 1898- 
1899 a series of sittings were held at which Mr. 
Hyslop, father of Professor J. H. Hyslop, was the 
professed communicator. A full record of these, 
together with an exhaustive commentary. Is pub- 
lished as Vol. XVI. of the Proceedings, S. P. R. 
Taken as a whole they appear to contain, together 
with much that is irrelevant or Inaccurate, so few 
correct and pertinent statements on matters not 
conceivably within the knowledge of the medium, 
that. In my own judgment, It would be difficult 
to extract from them evidence of value even for 
telepathy from living minds. The late Dr. Hodg- 
son, however, attached some value to them, and 
Professor Hyslop himself Is satisfied that he has 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 327 

actually been in communication with his father.^ 
The sittings with Mrs. Piper since 1900 have 
been — with few exceptions — equally unproductive. 
The control of the entranced organism has been 
taken over by a band of spirits, Imperator, Rec- 
tor, Prudens, etc., who proclaim themselves to 
be the same who directed the mediumship of the 
late Stainton Moses. Stainton Moses, a clergy- 
man of the Church of England, and English Master 
at University College School, was perhaps the 
most remarkable private medium of the last gen- 
eration. Of his trance utterances I have already 
spoken. They contain no evidence of supernormal 
faculty. He was also a physical medium, but he 
performed only in a small circle of intimate friends, 
and the evidence for the supernormal powers 
claimed by him rests entirely on the conviction en- 
tertained by these friends of the medium's hon- 
esty. No precautions against trickery were taken, 
and if trickery were practised, it is not likely that 
it would have been detected.^ It cannot be said, 
therefore, that the migration of Imperator and 
his associates from Stainton Moses to Mrs. Piper is 
calculated to strengthen the presumption of spirit- 
communication. 

But the whole subject is surrounded with diffi- 

* The reader who has leisure and patience may possibly care to peruse 
the voluminous record and form his own opinion as to its merits. But he is 
advised first to read Dr. Hodgson's Report in Proceedings^ vol. xiii., which 
gives the case of Mrs. Piper at its best. 

' I have discussed at length the case of Mr. Stainton Moses in my Modern 
Spiritualism^ vol. ii., pp. 276-S8, 



328 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

culties and perplexities. Even G. P. has on more 
than one occasion evaded test questions put to 
him, and has evaded them under circumstances 
which suggest disingenuousness. Imperator, Rec- 
tor, Prudens, etc., represent personages of some im- 
portance in their day upon earth. Their real 
names were revealed by Stalnton Moses to one 
or two persons still living. Through Mrs. Piper's 
organism they have more than once professed as a 
proof of identity to give their names ; but their 
guesses have been incorrect. Several persons have 
within the last few years left behind them sealed 
letters, containing some statement known only to 
themselves, in order that revelation of the contents 
through a medium might furnish proof of the 
writer's survival. In no case has the test been 
complied with. In at least two instances (the 
medium in one case being Mrs. Piper, and in the 
other Mrs. Verrall) statements have been made 
purporting to indicate the contents of such a letter, 
which have proved, when the letter was opened, to 
be entirely wide of the mark.^ During the past 
year some sittings have been held with Mrs. Piper 
in England at which some communications of In- 
terest have been received. But the full report of 
the results is not yet ripe for publication. 

The investigation Into these trance phenomena 
will, we hope, be continued whenever opportunity 

' A full account of a case in which a test of this kind is said to have been 
fulfilled wir be found in Procicdim^s, S. P. R., viii,, p. 243. But the ac- 
count was not written until many years after the event. 



The Case of Mrs. Piper 329 

offers itself. From the resuks so far attained no 
certain conclusion seems possible. On the one 
hand, it seems clear that the trance consciousness 
of Mrs. Piper, as of all other so-called mediums, is 
apt on very small provocation to personify itself, 
and that the personification may be shaped by the 
suggestions of those present. In Mrs. Piper's case 
we have ground for assuming that such suggestions 
may often be conveyed telepathically ; in short, that 
the dramatic personalities of the so-called controls 
may actually be built up out of the material un- 
consciously supplied by the sitters, and that the 
intimate personal details revealed in the trance ut- 
terances may be telepathically filched from the 
same source. The limitations of the knowledge 
displayed, and the occasional disingenuousness, 
forbid us to accept these communications as au- 
thentic and unembarrassed messages from the dead. 
On the other hand, the remarkable freedom of 
the communications at some of the G. P. seances, 
and the occasional references to matters apparently 
outside the knowledge of the sitter, suggest that in 
certain cases, at any rate, we may come somehow 
into contact with the minds of the dead. Mrs. 
Sidgwick has suggested ^ that possibly there may 
be communication with the dead, through the chan- 
nel of the sitter's mind ; that Mrs. Piper may re- 
ceive telepathically such messages, as she apparently 
receives the impression of other contents of her 

* Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. xv., p. 37. 



330 The Case of Mrs. Piper 

visitors' minds, and reflect them back through her 
automatic speech or writing. 

Some such hypothesis would seem to be adequate 
to cover the known facts. But at the present stage 
of the investigation it must remain an open ques- 
tion whether an hypothesis which involves in any 
form telepathy from the dead is really required. 



CHAPTER XIV 

ON CLAIRVOYANCE AND PREVISION 

TELEPATHY, as we have seen, furnishes a key 
which will unlock many things hitherto occult. 
But not all doors can thus be opened. There are 
incidents reported by competent witnesses which 
would seem to point to other unrecognised facul- 
ties of acquiring knowledge beyond the scope of 
the normal senses. Provisionally the chief of these 
hypothetical faculties have been named Clairvoy- 
ance, and Prevision or Precognition. The proof 
of such faculties, however, is on an entirely dif- 
ferent footing from the proof of telepathy. We 
have seen that the hypothesis of the transmission 
of ideas from one brain to another by means of 
ethereal vibrations presents, so far as we can see, 
no insuperable difficulty. Moreover, if such a 
faculty should be proved to exist, we could under- 
stand how it might have been called into being by 
the pressure of the environment to meet the needs 
of an earlier stage in human, perhaps even in ani- 
mal history. We should see in it the last traces 
of a faculty which rose before the birth of speech, 
and is already passing below the human horizon, at 

33^ 



332 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

all events, now that its work Is done. In other 
words, if the theory of telepathy were accepted, it 
would not necessarily carry us beyond the bound- 
aries of the known. In Its physical aspect, it 
would be but one more effect of ethereal vibra- 
tions ; historically, we should rank It as a vestigial 
faculty, reminding us, like the prehensile powers of 
the newly born infant, of a time when man was in 
the making. 

But clairvoyance and prevision, the postulated 
faculties of seeing without the intermediation of 
any definite sense organ, and of foreseeing events 
yet to come, could not apparently be explained by 
any conceivable extension of physical laws. Nor 
could the existence of such faculties be accounted 
for by any process of terrestrial evolution. It is 
on the supposed existence of these superterrestrlal 
modes of acquiring knowledge, that the late F. 
W. H. Myers has founded a cogent argument for 
immortality. As we have seen in the last two 
chapters, recent psychology tends to show that 
consciousness in the last analysis Is but the trans- 
itory co-ordination of countless Ill-defined and 
variable factors ; and the study of hypnotism and 
hysteria has only served to deepen our sense of the 
inadequacy of this surface consciousness, and to re- 
veal the possibility of other combinations amongst 
its shifting elements. 

Myers accepted to the full the results of recent 
research. He recognised that the human conscious- 
ness, as we know it, Is a highly composite and 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 333 

unstable thing, having neither completeness nor 
essential unity. It is in short, to employ his fa- 
vourite simile, like the visible spectrum, a selection 
— accidental, interrupted, and variable — from a lar- 
ger whole. But at this point Myers's view diverges 
from those of the recognised schools. To him the 
surface consciousness, the only thing which we 
know as consciousness in ordinary life, is compara- 
tively unimportant. *' I accord no primacy," he 
writes, **to my ordinary waking self, except that 
among my potential selves this one has shown itself 
the fittest to meet the needs of common life." It 
is the hidden life which counts — the self which the 
struggle of the market-place and the senate has 
thrust back into the darkness, or has not yet called 
into conscious activity. " Each of us," he con- 
tinues, " is in reality an abiding psychical entity 
far more extensive than he knows — an individuality 
which can never express itself completely through 
any corporeal manifestation. . . . All this 
[unexpressed] psychical action is conscious, all is 
included in an actual or potential memory below 
the threshold of our habitual consciousness." ^ 

Again, the student of the laboratory or the 
asylum teaches that the rays omitted from the 
psychical spectrum are merely the ultra-red rays, 
the representatives of organic activities, of ob- 
scure bodily sensations, and possibly of primitive 
modes of perception which in the long ascent 
from the ascidian have been crowded out from 

* Proceedings^ S. P. R.., vol. vii., pp. 301, 305. 



334 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

the waking consciousness, at any rate, of civil- 
ised man. But Myers claimed that the analysis 
of the orthodox school is defective and that a more 
resolute search would find traces, beyond the violet 
end of our soul's spectrum, of other faculties and 
modes of perception, " which this material or planet- 
ary life could not have called into being, and whose 
exercise even here and now involves and necessi- 
tates the existence of a spiritual world." 

Amongst these dormant faculties, which we yet 
cannot reckon as vestigial, are the exceptional 
powers exhibited by some hypnotic subjects of 
subconsciously reckoning with precision long peri- 
ods of time, and the remarkable feats of calculating 
boys. For at what point of man's upward progress, 
Myers would ask, could it have profited him to 
possess a psychic alarum of this kind ? or how 
could it have nerved the arm of the cave-dweller to 
be able to extract cube-roots, or reckon out log- 
arithms at sight? Telepathy also, to Myers and 
those who think with him, seems to point to a 
wider plane of existence, and a spiritual as opposed 
to a merely terrestial process of evolution. But it 
is in its equipment with the transcendental faculties 
referred to at the beginning of this chapter that 
the strongest proof of the extra-planetary affinities 
of the human soul will naturally be sought. It is 
important therefore to examine carefully the basis 
upon which the assumption of the existence of 
these faculties depends. 

The earlier students of Mesmerism or '* Animal 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 335 

Magnetism " in this and other European countries 
believed that certain of their subjects possessed the 
power of vision without the use of the eyes. Some- 
times the power of vision was believed to be trans- 
ferred to some other part of the body — the pit of 
the stomach, the fingers, or the back of the head. 
Sometimes it had no apparent relation to the bodily 
organism, but was thought to be exercised by the 
soul itself, released for a time from the prisoning 
flesh. It was the supposed clairvoyance at close 
quarters, however, which first attracted attention. 
The Commission appointed by the Royal Academy 
of Medicine at Paris, which presented their report 
on the phenomena of Animal Magnetism in 1831, 
stated that they had found certain subjects who 
in the magnetic trance could distinguish objects 
placed before them when their eyes were fast 
closed and normal vision was impossible. During 
the next thirty years many exponents of this sup- 
posed faculty gave public exhibitions, especially in 
this country and in France. Some careful experi- 
ments with a view to test the reality of the alleged 
faculty were made by the Rev. C. H. Townshend 
in 1840-50. Townshend convinced himself that 
certain mesmerised persons could see objects placed 
outside the range of vision. Indeed, as described, 
it seems impossible to account for some of his re- 
sults by the exercise of the normal senses. In 
most of the experiments it was found necessary for 
the object to be held in front of the eyes, which 
were, however, so bandaged as to make it impossi- 



33^ On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

ble, in the view of the experimenters, for the sub- 
ject to see anything. It was found, however, that 
a variation in the angle at which the object was 
held, the addition of a further covering to the head, 
or the interposition of a screen, interfered with 
success. It is quite clear therefore that in these 
cases — as indeed in nearly all those hitherto re- 
ported by careful observers — the supposed power 
of ** clairvoyance " had some relation to the normal 
organs of vision. Moreover the experience of the 
investigators of the Society for Psychical Research 
has led them to the conclusion that there is no 
method of bandaging the eyes, without risk of in- 
jury to those organs, which will effectually preclude 
normal vision. We gained our most instructive 
lesson with a subject named Dick, a pit lad. Dick, 
who had given successful exhibitions of his powers 
on platforms in the North of England, was brought 
to us in 1884 ^or examination. The method of 
bandaging practised by his manager was as follows : 
a penny was placed over each eye, ostensibly to 
protect the organ from sticking-plaster, strips of 
which were applied copiously over the orbits and 
the surrounding features. A handkerchief was 
then tied tightly over all. Under these conditions 
Dick correctly described objects held in front of 
him at a considerable distance. The bandaging 
seemed to be effective and normal vision appeared 
impossible. It was observed, however, that Dick 
was most successful when the objects were held 
directly in front, and a little above the level of the 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 337 

eyes. A variation in the position frequently led to 
the failure of the experiment. Further the experi- 
ment would fail If the bandages were placed above 
the level of the eyebrows. Eventually, after re- 
peated trials, Dr. Hodgson succeeded, under the 
same conditions of bandaging. In seeing, though 
fitfully and Imperfectly, objects held In a corre- 
sponding position. The channel of vision was a 
small chink in the sticking-plaster on the line where 
it was fastened to the brow. Possibly with Dick 
vision under these conditions may have been ren- 
dered easier by some degree of visual hyperses- 
thesia. His trance seemed to be genuine. ^ In 
short, until we can find a subject who can see an 
object through an opaque screen or inside a closed 
box, we need not seriously consider this kind of 
clairvoyance. 

But the suggested conditions are alleged to have 
been complied with In two well-known cases — those 
of Alexis Didler and of Major Buckley's subjects. 
And as both cases have been cited of recent years by 
distinguished writers ^ as proofs of clairvoyance. It 
seems necessary to consider their claims. Notwith- 
standing the testimony of Robert Houdin, who 
witnessed the performance, and professed himself 
quite unable to discover any trickery, it seems 
unnecessary to consider that part of Alexis' 

> Journal, S. P. R., vol. i., p. 84. 

* Dr. A. R. Wallace in Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xiv., p. 373, has claimed 
genuine powers of clairvoyance for Alexis Didier. Mr. Myers {Human 
Personality^ vol. 1., pp. 556-8), has quoted some of Major Buckley's experi- 
ments. 



33^ On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

*' clairvoyance " which was undertaken with eyes 
bandaged. Alexis, as we know from contemporary 
accounts, was very particular as to the arrangement 
of the bandages, and frequently fidgeted with them. 
In any case, bandaging the eyes, as already said, is 
a fallacious test. But Alexis did more than play 
cards or read books with eyes bandaged. We are 
told that he frequently described the contents of 
sealed packets, which had been specially prepared 
beforehand as a test of his powers. Accounts of 
this marvel are fairly numerous, and the witnesses, 
whose names are given, were frequently persons 
whose position removed them from all suspicion of 
collusion. If we regard their evidence as insuffi- 
cient to prove clairvoyance, it Is on quite other 
grounds. Briefly, Alexis was a professional med- 
ium, who received large sums for his services ; he 
had a probable confederate in his business man- 
ager, Marclllet ; the seances were not conducted 
under conditions favourable to exact observation — 
the room would be thronged with people, twenty or 
thirty at a time ; Alexis could not satisfy all the 
tests propounded to him, and no doubt selected 
those which gave him his opportunity. Lastly, 
the accounts of the experiments which have come 
down to us are hasty and Incomplete ; we probably 
have in no case a full report of what took place. 
But by comparing reports by different observers of 
the same experiment, we find in one or two cases 
that the contents of the sealed packet could not be 
described when first presented. The secret would 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 339 

only be revealed after the packet had been opened 
in another room and the contents shown to a 
sympathetic bystander. Apart from the danger 
of collusion, it is obvious that this procedure 
offered opportunity for the prying eyes of M. 
Marcillet. On the whole, we are forced to the 
conclusion that Alexis' performances so closely 
resembled conjuring tricks, and took place under 
conditions so little favourable for exact experi- 
ment, that we should not be justified in citing 
them as evidence for clairvoyance. ^ 

The case of Major Buckley's clairvoyants is much 
simpler. Major Buckley was an elderly gentleman, 
a retired officer of the Indian Army, who prided 
himself on his remarkable powers as a mesmerist. 
Amongst his pet subjects were several young women 
who developed remarkable powers of clairvoyance. 
Their specialty — and it is remarkable that this 
particular power, though exhibited by many of 
Major Buckley's subjects, has not, as far as I know, 
been claimed in any other case — consisted in reading 
the mottoes in nuts purchased at the confectioner's, 
hazel nuts or walnuts, the natural contents of which 
had been replaced by sweetmeats and a piece of 
paper bearing a motto. From reports given in the 
Zoist, by Ashburner and others, it is not difficult to 
see how the feat was accomplished. The young 
women had apparently brought with them nuts 
which they had previously opened and resealed, 
and they contrived during the proceedings to sub- 

* See ray Modern Spiritualism, vol. i., pp. 143-7. 



340 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

stitute these prepared nuts for those brought by the 
investigators. When the nuts were marked, so as 
to prevent substitution, the young ladies pleaded 
headache and the experiments proved inconclusive.^ 
On the whole we are bound to conclude that the 
evidence for the alleged power of clairvoyance at 
close quarters is quite insufficient. The case, how- 
ever, for what the older mesmerists styled "travel- 
ling clairvoyance " is very much stronger, though 
the hypothesis implied by that term, viz., that the 
soul of the entranced subject left the body and 
actually visited the scene which he described, is 
of course gratuitous. The locality ** visited" was 
generally the home of one of the experimenters, 
selected as being at a distance and unknown to the 
clairvoyant. So far as the details given by the 
sleeper were known to the experimenter, telepathy 
from his mind would be sufficient to account for 
the results. In the rarer cases, when details would 
be given of the scene taking place at the moment 

' See Zoist, vol. vi., pp. 98-110 and 380-4. The latest case of clairvoy- 
ance at close quarters has broken down like all the rest. In 1896, Dr. 
Ferroul, Mayor of Narbonne, — who has lately risen to fame in another field 
of action, — reported in the Annales dcs Sciences Psychiques the success of 
some experiments in reading the contents of closed envelopes. In the 
following year Professor Grasset made up a sealed envelope and sent it 
to Dr. Ferroul's subject. The contents were correctly read, and Professor 
Grasset could not ascertain that the envelope had been tampered with in 
any way. Subsequently, at his request, the Acadcmie dcs Sciences et Lettres 
of Montpellier apppointed a committee to investigate the matter. Their re- 
port leaves no room to doubt that the results were achieved by deliberate 
fraud. (See Annales des Sciences Psychiques^ May-June and July-August, 
1896 ; November-December, 1897 ; January-February, 1898. Also Semaine 
M^dicaU, 1898, pp. iS-20, a.nd Proceedings ^ S.P.R., xiv., pp. 115-118.) 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 341 

of the experiment and unknown to any of those 
present in the room with the sleeper, the operation 
of telepathy from a distance is still not excluded. 
We should clearly not be justified in attributing a 
power of independent vision to the clairvoyant. 
The following example will serve to illustrate the 
type. 

The narrative, written by Dr. Alfredo Barcellos, 
was communicated to us by Professor Alexander, 
of Rio de Janeiro, who has himself investigated the 
circumstance. 

No. 72 

[The incident occurred on the 19th of March, 1895, and the 
account was sent to us on the 29th December, 1896. Dr. 
Barcellos had just visited a patient. Donna X., who was con- 
valescing from pleurisy on the left side. The recovery was 
retarded by severe anaemia, from which, however, no danger 
was apprehended. From Donna X.'s house Dr. Barcellos 
went direct to the house of Donna G., another patient whom 
he was treating by means of hypnotism. On this occasion 
Donna G. after passing into the trance] ** suddenly became 
grave — frowned as if engaged in some effort of thought (como 
pensativa e preoccupada), and with that vivid presentation that 
characterises somnambules, uttered, in substance, the following 
words, which made a profound impression on my memory : 
* Dr. Barcellos, that patient of yours is dying. Poor thing ! — 
See the children weeping round her. Look — there goes a 
messenger in all haste to your house to call you. This is what 
she said:* (Here G. tried to imitate the faint tones of a 
person in articulo mortis) — ' " Help me, Dr. Barcellos, I am 
dying ! " * (Returning to her natural voice) * Poor thing ! — 
a stout woman, too — and to say that stoutness is a sign of 
health. It is useless, doctor — she is dead ! ' As at that time 
the person I had just visited was [G. excepted] my only 



342 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

female patient, I supposed, on hearing these words, that the 
reference must be to her, and I therefore said to G., * Ex- 
amine the dying woman. See what she is dying of * ; to which 
the somnambule, after [another] effort of thought, replied, 
' She has an obstruction in her chest on the left side ; but it is 
not that that is killing her, doctor. What is killing her is her 
state of profound anaemia. It may be said that this woman's 
blood has been changed to water in her veins. She is dead ! * " 

In fact Donna X. had died, as stated, and a 
messenger had been dispatched to summon a doctor. 
Dr. Barcellos on his way to the house met Dr. 
Dias, who had just come from thence, and Dr. 
Dias testifies that Dr. Barcellos was able to tell 
him that Donna X. was already dead.^ 

We find a few instances of ** clairvoyance " of 
this kind recorded as occurring during severe ill- 
ness. Dr. Sutphin, of Glasgow, Kentucky, has 
given an account of two cases occurring in his 
practice in which typhoid fever patients saw events 
taking place at a distance. The vision in one case 
represented a detailed picture of a distant scene 
and the actors in it.^ 

It is perhaps hardly necessary to point out that 
the finding of lost objects through indications given 
In dreams, in the crystal, or though planchette 
cannot be attributed to clairvoyance. In most 
cases the revival of a lost memory on the part of 
the actual seer will explain the fact. More rarely, 
we have to assume that the seer is enabled to reach 
telepathlcally the subliminal memory of another. 

^Journal, S. P. R., July, 1897. 
^ Jbid, June, 1896. 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 343 

This seems the simplest explanation of a remark- 
able incident reported to the Society by Sir Harry 
and Lady Vane. Lady Vane had lost a notebook, 
and ha(i had the whole house searched for it. 
Some weeks later meeting Lady Mabel Howard, 
who has received many veridical messages through 
automatic writing, Lady Vane asked her to find 
out where the book was. Lady Mabel's pencil 
wrote that the book would be found in a locked 
cupboard in the bookcase, at the tapestry end of 
the room, and after a further close search the book 
was actually found in the place indicated concealed 
in a scrapbook. This particular cupboard had al- 
ready been searched on more than one occasion.^ 

There are, however, a few cases reported of 
dreams picturing the scene of a burglary, or other 
event, in which it is difficult, with any plausibility, 
to invoke human agency. The following case will 
serve to illustrate the point. 

No. 73. From Miss Busk' 

" 16 Montague Place, W., 1884. 

** I dreamt that I was walking in a wood in my father's 
place in Kent, in a spot well-known to me, where there was 
sand under the firs ; I stumbled over some objects, which 
proved to be heads, left protruding, of some ducks buried in 
the sand. The idea impressed me as so comical that I fortu- 
nately mentioned it at breakfast next morning, and one of 
two persons remember that I did so. Only an hour later it 
happened that the old bailiff of the place came up for some 
instructions unexpectedly, and as he was leaving he said he 
must tell us a strange thing that had happened. There had 

' Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. xi., p. 395. 

* Phantasms of the Livings vol. i. , p. 369. 



344 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

been a robbery in the farmyard, and some stolen ducks had 
been found buried in the sand, with their heads protruding, 
in the very spot where I had seen the same. The farm was 
underlet, and I had not even any interest in the ducks to 
carry my thoughts towards them under the nefarious treat- 
ment they received. 

"R. H. Busk." 

Miss Busk's sister, Mrs. Pitt Byrne, who was 
present when this dream was told, corroborates as 
follows : 

"I distinctly remember, and have often since spoken of, 
the circumstance of Miss R. H. Busk's relating to me her 
dream of ducks buried in the wood, before the bailiff who 
reported the incident came up to town. 

" J. Pitt Byrne." 

Impressions of this type are, however, very rare, 
and their occurrence is reported, so far as I am 
aware, only in dreams. It would not be safe, 
therefore, to build any hypothesis on such slender 
support. Moreover, improbable though the concep- 
tion may appear of a malefactor revealing telepath- 
ically his own misdeed to any of those concerned, 
the remarkable dream connected with the death of 
W. Terriss, which is given below, would certainly 
seem to indicate such a possibility. 

The evidence for precognition is at first sight, 
perhaps, more impressive than that for clairvoy- 
ance. But a little consideration will show us that 
it is as yet wholly inadequate to justify the tre- 
mendous assumptions implied in the hypothesis 
of foreknowledge of the future. Telepathy, as 
already indicated, does not seem necessarily to 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 345 

involve more than a slight enlargement of the 
physical scheme of the universe — ^just the addition 
of a new mode of force operating by means al- 
ready sufficiently familiar. But foreknowledge 
of the future, of the detailed kind indicated in 
some of the narratives forwarded to us, would in- 
volve the shattering of the whole scientific fabric. 
If the things reported in some of these narratives 
really happened we must set to work to construct 
a new heavens and a new earth. But the hypo- 
thesis of telepathy, as already shown, rests pri- 
marily upon rigid experiment ; the spontaneous 
instances furnish subsidiary support, but are in 
themselves hardly sufficient to justify the theory. 
Now the hypothesis of prevision derives no sup- 
port from experiment ; it rests entirely on the 
testimony of witnesses who rarely have any claim 
to be regarded as expert observers. And the im- 
pressions by which foreknowledge of the future 
seems to be conveyed are mostly dreams — that is, 
they belong to a class of impressions which we 
have already recognised as being evidentially so 
weak as to give but dubious support to telepathy. 

It is scarcely necessary to repeat what has been 
said in a previous chapter as to the inherent de- 
fects of dream evidence. But as the " prophetic " 
dream often does not meet with its fulfilment until 
weeks or months later, it is clear that there is 
greater risk even than in the cases already con- 
sidered of the dream being reshaped in memory to 
fit the event. 



34^ On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

As Gurney has put It: 

" When the actual facts are learnt a faint amount of resem- 
blance may often suggest a past dream, and set the mind on 
the track of trying accurately to recall it. This very act in- 
volves a search for detail, for something tangible and distinct; 
and the real features and definite incidents which are now 
present to the mind, in close association with some definite 
scene or fact which actually figured in the dream, will be apt to 
be unconsciously read back into the dream . . . dreams 
in this way resemble objects seen in the dusk ; which begin 
by puzzling the eye, but which when once we know or think 
we know what they are, seem quite unmistakable and even 
full of familiar detail."* 

Nor have we in most of these " prophetic " dreams 
the kind of certificate which we were enabled to 
produce in several of the dreams quoted in Chapter 
IV.' — the evidence of contemporary documents. In 
comparatively few cases does it appear that any 
note of the " prophetic " dream was made before 
the fulfilment. 

If we consider only those '* prophetic " dreams 
which are attested by contemporary documents, or 
in which there Is other satisfactory evidence that 
the experience has been correctly reported, we 
shall find that in many cases the facts admit of 
some other explanation than foreknowledge of the 
future. Thus, we have several cases In which the 
winner of the Derby or some other race was re- 
vealed In a dream ; or In which the position of a 
candidate In some important examination was ac- 
curately foreseen. Professor G. Hulln, of the 

' Phantasms, vol. i., p, 298. 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 347 

University of Ghent, has communicated to us five 
instances, all occurring within a few years, appar- 
ently in the same district of Belgium, in which 
young men had dreamt beforehand of the actual 
number which they would draw for conscription, 
and had announced the number, before the draw- 
ing, to the presiding officer. The facts in each 
case are certified by the commissaire d' arrondisse- 
ment^ who was himself the presiding officer on 
at least two of the occasions referred to.^ Cases of 
this kind are certainly much more remarkable than 
dreams of the winning horse, because the numbers 
concerned are much larger (the highest number in 
the urn in one case is given as 223), and the results 
are of course quite incalculable. It is not difficult 
to suppose, in the case of the lottery or the horse 
race, that the fears and hopes centred on the issue 
breed dreams so numerous that here and there one 
must in the long run coincide with the event, while 
those which remain fruitless soon pass away and 
leave no trace in the memory. Possibly dreams of 
the number drawn for conscription — since the event 
would affect the dreamer more nearly than the re- 
sult of a race or lottery — are even more common. 
In the only case given by Professor Hulin in detail, 
the dream took place two months beforehand, and 
the lad bad been for months previously in great 
anxiety as to the issue. Further it is to be noted 

* Journal, S.P.R., October, 1894. It is not clear from the account that 
M. Van Dooren, the commissaire, testifies of his own knowledge to the three 
cases occurring in 1893 and 1894. 



348 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

that in all five cases the number dreamt of was a 
high, i.e., a favourable one, and the dream no doubt 
would win more credence because of its good 
augury. But it is not quite so easy to be satisfied 
that the dreams last noted — of which three are re- 
ported as occurring in the same village, Eecloo, in 
the course of less than ten years — were due wholly 
to chance. It would certainly appear that there is 
a case for further enquiry here.^ 

We have a few cases of correct predictions made 
by professional mediums.^ But here again, in view 
of the large number of predictions made under sim- 
ilar circumstances which are not fulfilled and are 
forgotten, it would be unsafe at present to count 
too highly the few shots which hit the mark. 

We have numerous cases reported to us of un- 
usual sights or sounds — animals, corpse-lights, 
Banshees, the death-watch — preceding a death. 
But the evidence in these cases is in its present 
state quite insufficient to establish any connection. 
One obvious defect in the symbolic dream or 
omen is that there is no intrinsic relation between 
the event and its symbol. Our own ancestors saw 
a connection between comets and disasters ; and 



' Even if the facts are admitted in these cases to be beyond the scope of 
chance, foreknowledge of the future, as Mr, Myers points out {^Proceedings, 
S.P.R., xi., p, 547), is not necessarily involved. The guidance of a higher 
intelligence, gifted with clairvoyant powers, which should direct the dream- 
er's hand to the appointed number, would be a less incredible assumption. 
But until we have further information on such cases, it would be premature 
to pursue the speculation. 

' A striking case will be found in Journal, S.P.R., March, 1901. 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 349 

the modern Celt believes will-o'-the-wisp lights to 
betoken death. Prima facie, the one belief has as 
much to say for itself as the other. There is a 
natural tendency to believe that an unusual occur- 
rence, anything out of the ordinary routine of life, 
is to be construed as a portent. Hence the almost 
universal belief, at a certain stage of civilisation, in 
omens. Clearly, to establish a connection between 
an unusual sight or sound and a subsequent event 
(most commonly a death) we need a long series of 
coincidences. But in the symbolic prophecies before 
us we have no unimpeachable record to attest such 
a series of coincidences. We are forced to rely 
upon fallible memories, for the most part unsup- 
ported by documents. In other words, we have 
little security that the " misses " have been recorded 
as well as the ** hits." And this forgetfulness of the 
unfulfilled omen is especially likely to occur with 
persons of the peasant class, who form the bulk of 
our witnesses for symbolic hallucinations ; and, 
again, is specially liable to affect dreams, the form 
of symbolism for which we have most educated 
testimony. Yet another defect of this class of evi- 
dence is that no definite term is fixed for the ful- 
filment of the omen. This, indeed, is a defect 
common to prophetic intimations in general, but is 
peculiarly noticeable in this class. The death 
may follow the corpse-lights by two or three days ; 
but the omen may fulfil itself unquestioned in 
months or years. Again, there is the vagueness of 
the event foreshadowed. The omen may point to 



350 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

a mother or son. But some of our seers are con- 
tented with the death, after an interval of weeks, 
of a step-grandmother, an uncle by marriage, or 
even a mere acquaintance. 

One case may perhaps be quoted, as illustrative 
of the kind of evidence which is required to make 
reports of vague occurrences of this kind worthy of 
serious consideration. 

No. 74. From Mrs. Verrall * 

" 5 Selwyn Gardens, Cambridge, 

"[Tuesday] September 20th, 1898, 3 p.m. 

" Dear Mr. Myers : 

"Just a line for the stamp of the post — in case any- 
thing has ' occurred ' — to say that this afternoon, at 2.30, I 
heard the curious ticking which I think I have mentioned to 
you. It comes usually, if not always, when I am lying down, 
and may be due to some physical cause ; but it has at least 
once been associated with the illness of a friend, so I make a 
point of noting it, and I suppose the stamp of the post is 
desirable. 

" But absit omen ! 

" M. de G. Verrall." 

Mr. Myers noted on this letter : " Received 
September 20th, 1898, 8.30 p.m." 

The omen was "fulfilled" on the following day. 
Mrs. Verralls sister, landing from the steamer at 
Ouistreham, between ten and eleven p.m., on the 
2 1 St, made a false step and plunged into the water 
of the harbour. She was rescued by the boat- 
swain, who heard the splash, and suffered no seri- 
ous ill effects. But no one had seen her fall, there 

• Journal, S.P.R., November, 1899, p. 135. 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 351 

was imminent risk of being drawn under the ship, 
and her life was for a few moments in great 
danger. 

On another occasion Mrs. Verrall noted down the 
occurrence of the ticking, and subsequently found 
that the time coincided with the commencement of 
the serious illness of an intimate friend. On the 
only two other occasions on which Mrs. Verrall has 
heard the ticking, it seemed to have a premonitory 
significance. 

It may be hoped that, as attention is increasingly 
called to the subject, careful records like that last 
quoted may be multiplied, so that it may ultimately 
be found possible to estimate the real significance 
of these omens. 

There is another class of predictions, the exist- 
ence of which seems to be well established. The 
early Magnetists have put on record that some of 
their somnambules could accurately foretell the ap- 
proach of disease in their own persons ; could fore- 
cast the course of the disease, predict the occurrence 
of crises, and indicate the date of recovery. More 
rarely this power of prediction extended to the ail- 
ments of others. Recent observations have con- 
firmed the accuracy of these early reports in both 
respects. Several cases have been reported to us 
in which persons have predicted serious illness or 
death to themselves. For an instance, see the 
case recorded by the Rev. A. T. Fryer, in which 
a lady, the wife of a clergyman, had a warning 
in a dream of a serious illness and her eventual 



352 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

recovery. The illness — blood-poisoning — in fact 
came on the day following the dream. ^ 

In a case recorded by Mr. Glardon, his aunt, 
Mme. J. O. predicted early in August that her 
death would take place in six weeks. Mr. Glardon 
sent us a note of the prediction before the death 
was known, intimating that the period would ex- 
pire on the 15th of September. As a matter of 
fact, the lady died on the I4th.^ 

These predictions occur, almost invariably, in 
trance or dreams, and the circumstances would 
seem occasionally to indicate that the subject of 
them is able, in the enlarged and more primitive 
stage of consciousness existing in those states, to 
perceive the latent presence of disease and the 
workings of organic processes, in himself or in 
others, which are hidden from the work-a-day self. 
More generally, however, the explanation is of a 
simpler kind. The prophecy is made to work out 
its own fulfilment ; the seer sets his organism sub- 
consciously to explode in a predestined crisis, or to 
emerge in sanity from a self-imposed period of ill 
health. 

Speaking generally this particular class of cases 
points at most to the vestiges of a lost power of 
forecasting or guiding organic processes, rather 
than to the rudiments of a new faculty transcending 
human limitations.^ 

' Journal, S.P.R., January, 1906. 
' Proceedings, S.P.R., vol. xi., p. 431. 

^ Dr. Liebeault has sent us his notes of a curious case. On the 26th 
December, 1879, M- e consulted a " Necromancer" in Paris, who told 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 353 

There are one or two striklnof cases, at first 
glance apparently prophetic, which again suggest 
another explanation. Mrs. McAlpIne, who has had 
several telepathic experiences, has given us the fol- 
lowing account of a vision which took place in 
June, 1889. 

No. 75. From Mrs. McAlpine * 
"Garscadden, Bearsden, Glasgow, April 20th, 1892. 

[Whilst waiting for a train at Castleblaney, Mrs. McAlpine 
wandered by the side of a lake.] "Being at length tired, I sat 
down to rest upon a rock at the edge of the water. My atten- 
tion was quite taken up with the extreme beauty of the scene 
before me. There was not a sound or movement, except the 
soft ripple of the water on the sand at my feet. Presently I 
felt a cold chill creep through me, and a curious stiffness of 
my limbs, as if I could not move, though wishing to do so. I 
felt frightened, yet chained to the spot, and as if impelled to 
stare at the water straight in front of me. Gradually a black 
cloud seemed to rise, and in the midst of it I saw a tall man, 
in a suit of tweed, jump into the water and sink. 

" In a moment the darkness was gone, and I again became 
sensible of the heat and sunshine, but I was awed and felt 
* eerie.'" 

A few days later a man, a clerk in a bank, actu- 
ally committed suicide in this very piece of water. 

him, amongst other predictions, which were eventually fulfilled, that he 
would die at twenty-six. He was then nineteen. The young man came in 
January, 1886, to consult Dr. Liebeault, who made a note of the prediction. 
In fact M. C died in September of the same year, when still not twenty- 
seven. The young man was under treatment at the time for biliary calculi ; 
and the cause of death was peritonitis, consequent on an internal rupture. 
It is difficult to suppose, therefore, that the prediction in this case wrought 
its own fulfilment or that the cause of death could have been foreseen nor- 
mally seven years before. {Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xi., p. 528.) 

» Proceedings^ S. P. R., vol. x., p. 332, 
23 



354 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

Mrs. McAlpIne's sister has a dim recollection of 
being told of the vision before the occurrence of 
the tragedy. 

With this may be compared another vision fore- 
shadowing a tragedy. It will be remembered that 
William Terriss, the actor, was stabbed at the en- 
trance to the Adelphi Theatre, by a discharged 
member of the company who fancied that he had 
a grievance against him. The murder took place 
at 7.20 p. M. on the i6th December, 1897. On the 
same evening a member of the company, Miss 

H , told some friends of mine of the murder, 

and of the dream told to her by Mr. Lane. Four 
days later I saw Mr. Lane, who had been acting as 
understudy to Terriss, and obtained from him the 
following account. 

No. 76. From Mr. Frederick Lane * 

"Adelphi Theatre, December 20th, 1897. 
" In the early morning of the i6th December, 1897, I dreamt 
that I saw the late Mr. Terriss lying in a state of delirium or 
unconsciousness on the stairs leading to the dressing-rooms in 
the Adelphi Theatre. He was surrounded by people engaged 
at the theatre, amongst whom were Miss Millward and one of 
the footmen who attend the curtain, both of whom I actually 
saw a few hours later at the death scene. His chest was bare 
and clothes torn aside. Everybody who was around him was 
trying to do something for his good. This dream was in the 
shape of a picture. I saw it like a tableau on which the cur- 
tain would rise and fall. I immediately after dreamt that we 
did not open at the Adelphi Theatre that evening. I was in 
my dressing-room in the dream, but this latter part was some- 
what incoherent. The next morning on going down to the 

"^Journal, S. P. R., Feb., 1898, p. 195. 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 355 

theatre for rehearsal the first member of the company I met 
was Miss H , to whom I mentioned this dream. On ar- 
riving at the theatre I also mentioned it to several other mem- 
bers of the company, including Messrs. Creagh Henry, Buxton, 
Carter Bligh, &c. This dream, though it made such an im- 
pression upon me as to cause me to relate it to my fellow 
artists, did not give me the idea of any coming disaster. I 
may state that I have dreamt formerly of deaths of relatives 
and other matters which have impressed me, but the dreams 
have never impressed me sufficiently to make me repeat them 
the following morning, and have never been verified. My 
dream of the present occasion was the most vivid I have ever 
experienced, in fact, life-like, and exactly represented the 
scene as I saw it at night. 

"Frederick Lane." 

Mr. Lane explained to me that he was in the 
neighbourhood of the theatre when Mr. Terriss was 
stabbed and ran to the Charing Cross Hospital for 
a doctor ; on his return he looked in at the private 
entrance, and saw Mr. Terriss lying on the stairs as 
in the dream. 

Miss H writes as follows : 

" Adelphi Theatre, [Saturday], i8th Dec, 1897. 
" On Thursday morning about 12 o'clock I went into Rule's, 
Maiden Lane, and there found Mr. Lane with Mr. Wade. In 
the course of conversation after Mr. Wade had left, Mr. Lane 
said that he had had a curious dream the night before the 
effects of which he still felt. It was to this effect: he had 
seen Terriss on the stairs inside the Maiden Lane door (the 
spot where Terriss died) and that he was surrounded by a 
crowd of people, and that he was raving, but he (Mr. Lane) 
could n't exactly tell what was the matter. I remember laugh- 
ing about this, and then we went to rehearsal." 



3S^ On Clairvoyance and Prevision 
Mr. Carter Bligh writes : 

"4th Jan., 1898. 

*' I must apologise for delay in replying to your note. ... 1 
have much pleasure in being able to state that Mr. Fred 
Lane on the morning of the i6th ult. at rehearsal at the Adelphi 
Theatre told me among others in a jocular and chaffing way 
(nof believing in it for an instant) how he probably would be 
called upon to play * Captain Thomas * that night as he had 
dreamt that something serious had happened to Terriss. I 
forget now, and therefore do not attempt to repeat, the exact 
words Mr. Lane used as to the reason (in the dream) why Mr. 
Terriss would not appear that night, but I have a distinct 
recollection of him saying that he (Terriss) could not do so, 
because of his having dreamt that something had happened. 
It was all passed over very lightly in the same spirit in which 
it was given, /. e.y in the spirit of unbelieving banter." 

Mr. Creagh Henry, another member of the com- 
pany, wrote on the 20th January to say that on the 
morning of the i6th December he heard Mr. Lane 
relate a dream in which he had seen Mr. Terriss 
** upon the landing where he died, surrounded by 
several people who were supporting him in what 
appeared to be a fit." 

It seems here that the dream-vision presented a 
fairly accurate and detailed picture of the event. 
The dream was not of a common type, and it is 
difficult to dismiss it as merely a chance-coin- 
cidence. But neither in this case nor in the one 
related by Mrs. McAlpine is it necessary to suppose 
that for the seer the veil of the future was moment- 
tarily lifted. 

The lines of telepathic influence, as we have had 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 357 

already occasion to observe, do not seem invariably 
to be marked out by kinship or affection. It 
would seem possible then that the chief actor in 
the tragedy, brooding in solitude, may have un- 
awares communicated to some mind, which hap- 
pened to be sensitive to its reception, the outline 
of the picture in which he embodied his desperate 
purpose. It is to be noted that the percipient in 
each case had some connection with the locality of 
the tragedy. 

There are, however, a few well attested cases in 
which the coincidence seems too definite to be 
attributed to chance, while no other solution can 
apparently be suggested. Of the apparent refer- 
ences to future events contained in Mrs. Verrall's 
script I select the following : 

No. 77. From Mrs. Verrall * 

"On December nth, 1901, the script wrote as follows : 

" * Nothing too mean the trivial helps, gives confidence. 
Hence this. Frost and a candle in the dim light. Mar- 
montel he was reading on a sofa or in bed — there was 
only a candle's light. She will surely remember this. The 
book was lent not his own — he talked about it.* 

** Then, after a reference to a separate incident, recognised 
as such, there appeared a fanciful but unmistakable attempt at 
the name Sidgwick." 

[Mrs. Verrall thought that " she " might refer to Mrs. Sidg- 
wick, and wrote to ask whether the name Marmontel had any 
meaning for her. Mrs. Sidgwick replied in the negative, but 
suggested that it might possibly occur in some MSS. that she 
was reading.] 

^Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xx., pp. 331-333. See above, Chapter XIII., 
for some account of Mrs. Verrall's automatic writing. 



35^ On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

" On the 17th Dec. the script wrote : 

" * I wanted to write Marmontel is right. It was a French 
book, a * Memoir I think. Passy may help Souvenirs de 
Passy or Fleury. Marmontel was not on the cover — the book 
was bound and was lent — two volumes in old-fashioned bind- 
ing and print. It is not in any papers — it is an attempt to 
make someone remember — an incident.* " 

[Mrs. Verrall is not conscious of having heard of Marmon- 
tel's name until it was written in the script. A few weeks 
later she saw the name in a bookseller's catalogue. In Jan- 
uary, 1902, she wrote to a friend, Mr. Marsh, to invite him for 
a week-end visit. He fixed March the ist. This was the 
only communication she had had with him since June, 1901.] 

" On March ist Mr. Marsh arrived, and that evening at din- 
ner he mentioned that he had been reading Marmontel. I 
asked if he had read the Moral Tales^ and he replied that it 
was the Memoirs. I was interested in this reference to Mar- 
montel, and asked Mr. Marsh for particulars about his read- 
ing, at the same time explaining the reasons for my curiosity. 
He then told me that he got the book from the London 
Library, and took the first volume only to Paris with him, 
where he read it on the evening of February 20th, and again 
on February 21st. On each occasion he read by the light of 
a candle, on the 20th he was in bed, on the 21st lying on two 
chairs. He talked about the book to the friends with whom 
he was staying in Paris. The weather was cold, but there 
was, he said, no frost. The London Library copy is bound, as 
most of their books are, not in modern binding, but the name 
* Marmontel * is on the back of the volume. The edition 
has three volumes ; in Paris Mr. Marsh had only one volume, 
but at the time of his visit to us he had read the second also. 

" I asked him whether * Passy * or ' Fleury ' would *help,* 
and he replied that Fleury's name certainly occurred in the 
book, in a note ; he was not sure about Passy, but undertook 
to look it up on his return to town, and to ascertain, as he 
could by reference to the book, what part of the first volume 

* Possibly " or. " 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 359 

he had been reading in Paris. He is in the habit of reading 
in bed, but has electric light in his bedroom at home, so that 
he had not read * in bed or on a sofa by candle light ' for 
months, till he read Marmontel in Paris. 

" On his return to town Mr. Marsh wrote to me (March 4, 
1902), that on February 21st, while lying on two chairs, he 
read a chapter in the first volume of Marmontel' s Memoirs 
describing the finding at Passy of a panel, etc., connected 
with a story in which Fleury plays an important part.* 

" It will thus be noted that the script in December, 1901, 
describes (as past) an incident which actually occurred two 
and a half months later, in February, 1902, — an incident 
which at the time of writing was not likely to have been fore- 
seen by any one. I ascertained from Mr. Marsh that the idea 
of reading Marmontel occurred to him not long before his 
visit to Paris. It is probable that had he not seen me almost 
immediately upon his return, when his mind was full of the 
book, I should never have heard of his reading it, and there- 
fore not have discovered the application of the script of 
December i6th and 17th." 

The coincidences here are so numerous and de- 
finite that it is extremely difficult to attribute them 
to chance, and the difficulty is increased when we 
take into account the other instances of the same 
kind contained in Mrs. Verrall's script. 

There remain, as already indicated, a consider- 
able number of cases of dreams which seem to 
foreshadow In some detail future events, and for 
which no explanation can apparently be suggested. 
Of these narratives the two which follow are per- 
haps the best attested. 

* Mrs. Verrall adds that, as far as she can discover, the names Passy and 
Fleury do not appear together in any passage except that read by Mr. Marsh 
on 2 1st February. 



360 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

No. 78, From Colonel K. Coghill, C.B. 

"April, 1894. 
"A curious case occurred to me last month, though it may 
be but a coincidence not worth recounting. On 28th March I 
received a letter from a lady, with whom I had not been in 
correspondence for about a year, stating that on the 26th she 
had either a vision or dream (I forget the expression) that she 
saw me in a very dangerous position under a horse from which 
many people were trying to relieve me. By return of post I 
wrote that I thought it a dream which was proved by con- 
traries, as nothing of the sort had occurred. That afternoon 
I received notice of a last ' off day ' with our pack of hounds, 
and the next morning on my way to covert I posted my letter. 
At the finish of a long run in the afternoon, my horse, pulling 
double down a steep hill, was unable to collect himself for a 
big bank at the bottom of the hill, breasted it, and fell head 
over heels into a deep and broad drop ditch on the far side, 
with me underneath him. His head and shoulders were at 
the bottom, and legs remained up on the landing side of the 
ditch. Many of the field dismounted, and after some minutes 
pulled the horse away, and got me from under, more or less 
stunned, but little the worse, except a few face cuts, the loss 
of a tooth, and a crushed stirrup, and the horse with a few 
head cuts. The horse was about my best hunter and never 
before guilty of such a thing, though, of course, it may have 
been but a hunting-field coincidence." 

The letter in which the lady in question, the 
Hon. Mrs. Leir Carleton, related her dream, is un- 
fortunately lost, but Sir Joseph Coghill writes : 
" Glen Barrabane, Castle Townsend, 

*' May 3rd, 1894. 
** On the 29th March last, my brother, Colonel Coghill, 
showed me a portion of a letter just received from a lady, who 
wrote describing a dream or vision in which she saw him 
meet with a serious accident from a horse, and she noticed a 
crowd of persons assisting him away." 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 361 

Colonel Coghlll himself wrote by return of post, 
before the accident, as follows : 

" 28th March. 
" My dear Mrs. Carleton : Need I say how delighted I 
was to see your handwriting this morning, and how happy I 
am that your dream has so far proved the rule of going by 
' contraries,* for I never in my life was going stronger than 
I am at present." 

On the 31st March Colonel Coghill wrote to 
Mrs. Carleton again : 

" You win, hands down . . . had you lived earlier you 
might have been burned as a witch, for by your dream you 
foretold a grief to me, though in prospective. Yesterday * I 
enjoyed the im-perial crowner which you saw in your dream, 
the hardest fall I have had for very many years. . . . 
Tableau — Six legs in the air. 2nd view — A man in the 
ditch, with horse on top of his (the man's) head. Here your 
dream fails, for instead of an unsympathetic crowd helping 
him, I was released by half a dozen friends, including the 
Master, and about as many ladies. 3rd Tableau — All their 
loose horses pursuing the hounds riderless. 

" My first thought, when down, was your dream, and before 
my head was out of the mud, I said, 'At any rate, as I am to 
be led away by some one, the neck must be all right,' and so it 
was, and I got off very cheaply." 

Mrs. Leir Carleton has informed us that from a 
child she has ** had premonitions of illness : some- 
times the illness proved trivial and sometimes fatal. 
I have no distinct impressions, coming events 
seem to cast shadows before them."^ 

* It may be noticed that there is a slight discrepancy here. According 
to Colonel Coghill's letter of April, the accident took place on the 29th 
March. Possibly his letter should have been dated 30th, not 31st, March. 

'^ Proceedings y S. P. R., vol. xi., pp. 489-91. 



362 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

The next case was procured for us by Pro- 
fessor Romaine Newbold, of the University of 
Pennsylvania. 

No. 79. From Professor Romaine Newbold * 

"Sedgwick, Maine, August 29th, 1900. 

** This morning my wife and I reached this out-of-the-way 
nook, some forty miles by water, though I believe but twenty 
by land, from Bar Harbour, and a few hours after our arrival 
I got the details of a coincidence which I wish to record and 
send you at once. 

" My wife's parents. Rev. and Mrs. Geo. T. Packard, and her 
brother Kent, aged 13^, have been spending the summer here. 
Kent met us on the wharf, and on the way up told me some- 
thing about being * chased by a white horse,* but I paid little 
attention to him. After dinner, while his mother and sister and 
I were talking over the happenings of the summer, Kent came 
into the room and said to his mother something — I did not 
catch the exact words — as to the dream he had some time 
ago about being chased by a white horse. Great excitement 
ensued, all began to talk at once. I scented something of 
value for the S.P.R., and succeeded in quieting the confusion. 
Then I made them tell their stories in due order and took 
them down in writing. From the notes which I then made I 
have written out the following account. It has been verified 
by the witnesses. 

"(i) Mrs. Packard's recollections. (Kent heard her tell this, 
but was not allowed to comment on it.) At home in Boston, 
not long before they came down here, Kent one night had a 
severe nightmare. He began to scream, thrash about in the 
bed, and strike wildly in all directions. Mrs. P. tried to 
soothe him and finally got him awake. He said he had 
dreamed that a white horse was chasing him around a wharf. 
He was so excited that he slept but little more that night, 
waking and crying out at intervals. Mr. Packard was wakened 

* Journal, S. P. R., February, 1901. 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 363 

by the noise of the first attack, and Mrs. P. remembers going 
in and explaining to him the cause. She remembers no 
further details of the dream. 

" (2) Ethel Packard Newbold remembers that she was told 
about the dream next morning, and that Kent at breakfast 
kept saying, * Oh that white horse ' ; with expressive gestures 
of horror. (N.B. — This would fix the date as falling between 
May 28th, when E. P. N. went to Boston, and June i6th, 
when I went there. I heard nothing of this. The family 
left Boston June 25th.) 

" (3) Mr. Packard remembers being awakened by the night- 
mare, and is sure it was in Boston, but did not at first re- 
member anything about the content of the dream. Upon 
reflection he has a dim memory of the horse incident. 

" (4) Kent is at first sure he had the dream after he came to 
Sedgwick, and that * Ethel only imagines she remembers 
it.' After some reflection he concludes that it was in Boston 
he had it. He dreamed that he was on a wharf, walking 
along. Some people, among them his mother, had just got 
out of a row-boat, upon the wharf. He had just passed them, 
— heard cries and * yells ' of ' Look out,' heard footsteps 
but they were not heavy — very light indeed for a horse. 
Glanced over his shoulder and saw a white horse, mouth open, 
long jaw, about to bite him, — then he sprang into the water 
and — woke to find his mother shaking him. 

" (5) What happened. Kent's account. He had just come 
out of the baggage room on the wharf at Sedgwick and was 
walking along the end of the wharf. A row-boat came up 
and the people got out, as happened in the dream, but his 
mother was not among them. He passed them, heard the 
cries, the footsteps, looked back and saw the white horse, the 
open mouth, the long jaw and face, the ears pressed back ; he 
jumped, not into the water, but into a gangway about ten feet 
wide, which ran from the level of the pier to high-water mark. 
About two hours afterwards he recalled the dream and was 
much startled when he recognised the coincidence. 

" Kent laid stress upon the points that both in the dream 



364 On Clairvoyance and Prevision 

and in fact the people who got out of the row-boat were among 
those that called to him, that the footsteps were lights not 
heavy, as one would suppose those of a horse would be, and 
that the horse's jaw and head seemed so long. These items 
are of course of no evidential value, but the main facts — of 
being chased on a wharf by a white horse — are, I think, 
pretty well established. 

'* I have read this over to the witnesses, and it has been 
approved by them all with the changes indicated [in the 
original MS. and here incorporated]. Kent says he cannot be 
sure the wharf of his dream was the same wharf he was on 
this morning. It was * just a wharf and all wharfs are pretty 
much alike.' And he did not notice in the dream that the 
white horse was attached to a buggy. It might have been, 
but he did not observe whether it was or not." 

Professor Newbold afterwards ascertained from 
eye-witnesses that the incident had actually occurred 
as stated by the boy. In this case it seems to be 
conclusively proved that a dream of a dramatic 
character was dreamt by the boy Kent Packard, 
some weeks before the occurrence of an Incident 
closely resembling In Its main features the Incident 
which figured In the dream. The impression 
made by the dream upon the boy's family seems 
to show that It was of an exceptional character. 
But one or two experiences of this kind, however 
impressive and however well attested, are of course 
insufficient in themselves to form the basis of a 
hypothesis. For if It is admitted that all evi- 
dence in such matters which depends at all on 
mere memory Is subject to a large and at present 
Indefinable discount, It seems clear that the in- 
stances of what purport to be prevision so far col- 



On Clairvoyance and Prevision 365 

lected fall short of redeeming their pledge. Until 
we meet with records of prophetic visions which 
are at least on the same evidential level as the 
narratives quoted say in Chapter VI., and as 
much more numerous and more impressive than 
those narratives as the faculty which they purport 
to demonstrate is more remote than telepathy 
from mundane analogies, we can but regard these 
dream-stories which we have been considering as 
the sports of chance or the distorted mirage of our 
own hopes and fears. Questioning Leuconoe must 
still question in vain. It does not yet appear that 
there are Babylonish numbers or wizard's spells, 
visions by day or dreams by night, which can reveal 
to her or us the hidden things of fate. 



INDEX 



Agency in telepathy, discussion 
of, 141-148 

Aksakof, Professor, case pro- 
cured by, 292 

Alchemy, 7 

Alexander, Professor, cases pro- 
cured by, 225, 341 

"Angus," Miss, case contributed 
by, 63 

Animal, apparent telepathy 
from, 56 

apparition of, 143 

Apparitions. See Hallucina- 
tions. 

Appreciation of time in hypnot- 
ism, 334 

Automatic writing, 72, 283, 

299-305. 343. 357-359 
Automatism, 283-290 

B 

B., Mr. H., case contributed 

by, 84 
B., Madame, Prof. Janet's 

subject, 44 
Baggally, Mr. W. W., 65 
Bagot, Mrs., case contributed 

by, 143 
Banshee, 348 
Barcellos, Dr., case recorded by, 

341 
Barrett, Professor W. F., 7-9 
Sealing' s Bells, 150 



"Beauchamp," Miss, 280, 285 

Benecke, Mrs., case contributed 
by, 246 

Blavatsky, Madame, 6, 173 

Bourne, Ansel, case of, 280 

Braid, James, 6 

Bramwell, Dr. Milne, 6 

Brierley, Mr. J. A., case contrib- 
uted by, 93 

Broussiloff , Madame, case con- 
tributed by, 128 

Bruce, Archdeacon, case con- 
tributed by, 72 

Buckley, Major, his experiments 
in clairvoyance, 337, 339-340 

Busk, Miss, case contributed by, 
343 



C, Mr., case contributed by, 288 

C, Miss C. P. M., case contrib- 
uted by, 58 

Cahagnet, Alphonse, and his 
clairvoyant subjects, 306 

Calculating boys, 334 

Campbell, Miss, and Miss Des- 
pard, their experiments in 
thought transference, 37-39, 

49 
Carbery, Lady, case contributed 

by, 56 

Camot, President, dream of his 

assassination, 80 
Castle, Mrs., case contributed 

by, 69 



367 



,68 



Index 



Census of hallucinations, 102- 
109, 231-234 

Cerebration, unconscious, 279 

Chance coincidence between 
phantasm and death, 105-109 

Children as agents in sponta- 
neous telepathy, 143 

Cideville trial for witchcraft, 
151-161 

Clairvoyance, 5, 61-62, in, 331, 

335-344 
Clark, Miss C, case contributed 

by, 125 
Clarke, Mr. J. T., his sitting 

with Mrs. Piper, 311 
Clarkson, Miss, case contributed 

by, 88 
Clothes of apparitions, m 
Cock Lane Ghost, 150 
Coghill, Colonel, case contributed 

by, 360 
Collective hallucinations, 230- 

244 
Community of sensation, 9, 44, 

71 

Confessions of trickery in Pol- 
tergeist cases, 162 

Conley, Miss, case contributed 
by, 227 

Consciousness, composite na- 
ture of, 277 

dissociation of, in hallucina- 
tion, 138-140 

in hypnotism, 279-81 

in pathological cases. 



280-285 

Conscription, dreams of number 
drawn in, 347-348 

Contemporary notes. See Notes, 
contemporary. 

Continuous observation, impor- 
tance of, in spiritualistic ex- 
periments, 193-195 



Crookes, Sir William, 11, 12, 171, 

172 n. 
Crystal vision, 62-64 



D., Mrs., case contributed by, 

59 

"Danvers," Miss, case contrib- 
uted by, 118 

Davey, Mr. S. J., his slate- 
writing, 182, 186-195 

Death, hallucinations coinciding 
with, calculation of chances, 
105-109 

predictions of, 352 

Death-watch, 349-350 

Derby, the, dreams of winner, 
346 

Despard, Miss, and Miss Camp- 
bell, their experiments in 
thought transference, 37-39, 

49 

Diary, notes in. See Notes, con- 
temporary. 

Didier, Alexis, his clairvoy- 
ance, 337-339 

Disinterested fraud, 174-175 

Dissociation of consciousness. 
See Consciousness. 

Distance as affecting telepathy, 
12, 21-23, no 

Divining-rod, 7 

Dixon, Mr. E. T., 168 

Documentary evidence, rarity 
of, in spontaneous telepathic 
cases 49, 86, 88. See Notes, 
contemporary. 

Dog, apparition of, 143 

Dolbear, Professor, case con- 
tributed by, 223 

Dove, Mr., case contributed by, 
137 



Index 



369 



Dreams, general characteristics, 
76-80, 346 

contrasted with hallucina- 
tions, 139 

prophetic, 92 n., 344- 

365 
-symbolic, 95, 349 



Drowned bodies found through 
dreams, 229 



E., Mrs., case contributed by, 

"5 

Ectenic force, 199, 204 

Eglinton, William, spirit me- 
dium, 175-77, 182 

Elliot son. Dr., 9 

Esdaile, James, 6 

Eusapia Paladino, spirit me- 
dium, 195-203 

Experimental Psychology, Con- 
gress of, 102 

Experiments in thought trans- 
ference, 16-46, 1 1 2-1 1 9 

at distance, 21-23, 32-46, 

112-119 

difficulty of determining 



scale, 30 
— evidential importance of, 

47-50 

— gradual development of 
percept in, 25-26 
— with sensations of smell 
and taste, 32 

— in inducing insensibility to 
pain, 45-46 
sleep at distance, 44 



Flammarion, Professor, 74, 
103 n. 



"Fleetwood," Mrs., case con- 
tributed by, 118 

Flournoy, Professor, 281 

Fludd, Robert, 7 

"Forbes," Mrs., her automatic 
writing, 303-304 

"Forcing" choice in spiritual- 
istic experiments, 192 

Forgetfulness of non-coincident 
hallucinations, 106-109 

Fox family, first mediums, 150 

Fraud, disinterested, 174-175 

Fryer, Rev. A. T., case re- 
corded by, 351 



Garrison, Mr. T. B., case con- 
tributed by, 54 

Gasparin, Count de, 204 

Ghost, popular conception of, 
not borne out by the facts, 
222, 272-274 

Gilbert, Dr., experiments in 
sleep at distance, 44 

Glanvil, Joseph, 149 

Glardon, Rev. A., his experi- 
ments in telepathy, 33-37 

case recorded by, 352 

Gleason, Dr. Adele, case con- 
tributed by, 80 

Godfrey, Mr. Clarence, case con- 
tributed by, 112 

Grant, Mr, Cameron, case con- 
tributed by, 218 

Gravitation, hypothesis of, com- 
pared with telepathy, 14 

Green, Mrs., case contributed 
by, 120 

Grottendieck, Mr., case re- 
corded by, 164 

Gurney, Edmund, 6, 45, 100 n., 
102, 123, 128, 216, 219, 252— 
253, 275» 279-280, 346 



370 



Index 



H 



Hallucinations, general discus- 
sion, 99-1 I I 

as explanation of ghosts, 

100 

associated with Poltergeist 

cases, 167-169 

census of, by S. P. R. See 

Census. 

collective, 130-145 

dissociation of conscious- 



130- 



ness in, 138-140 

— dreamlike nature of, 

138, 248 

— forgetfulness of, 106-109 
— grotesque, 137 
— of the sane contrasted with 



hallucinations of disease 105 n. 
popular misconception of, 

100 

post -hypnotic, 101-102, 139 

telepathic, experimentally 

produced, 11 2-1 19 
Haly, Mrs., case contributed by, 

216 
Hand-holding at spiritualist 

s6ances, 196-198 
Hansen and Lehmann, their crit- 
icism of telepathy, 21 n. 
Harden, Judge, case procured 

by, 290 
Haunted houses, 5, 245-274 
Hervey, Miss, case contributed 

by, 135 

Hilprecht, Professor, dream re- 
corded by, 225 

Hobday, Mr., case contributed 
by, 132 

Hodgson, Richard, 6, 81, 164, 
177, 182-183, 187, 189, 193- 
195, 197. 198, 207, 227, 301- 
302, 308-310, 320, 337 



Holbom, Rev. A., case pro- 
cured by, 234 

Home, D. D., 173 

Hulin, Professor, case recorded 
by, 347 

Husbands, Mr. John, case con- 
tributed by, 251 

Hyperaesthesia in hypnotism, 10, 
106 

Hypnotism, 5-6, 10, 106 

work by S. P. R. in, 275-276 

clairvoyance in, 335-340 

Hyslop, Professor, and Mrs. 
Piper, 326 

Hysteria and dissociation of 
consciousness, 281 



Illness, prediction of, 351-352 
Impersonation in trance, 284- 

286 
Insensibility to pain produced 

by telepathy, 45-46 



J 



Janet, Professor Pierre, 44, 281 
Johnson, Miss Alice, experi- 
ments by, 16-27, 45 



K 



Keame, Mr., case contributed 

by, 132, 138 
King, Mr. G., case contributed 

by, 217 
Kitching, Miss, case contributed 

by, 216 
Knight, Mrs., case contributed 

by, 95 
Krekel, Mrs., case contributed 
by, 82 



Index 



371 



Lane, Mr. F., case contributed 
by, 354 

Lang, Mr. Andrew, 55, 62, 92, 
149,151,159 

Lankester, Professor Ray, 173 

Latency of telepathic impres- 
sions, 148 

Latent memory, 223, 229, 342- 

343 
Lehmann and Hansen, their 

criticismof telepathy, 21 n. 
Li^beault, 6 

Lodge, Sir Oliver, 196-198 
his sittings with Mrs. Piper, 

317-319 
Lombroso, Professor, 196 

M 

Mann, Mrs., case contributed 
by, 91 

Manville, Mr. E., 190 

"Materialisation of spirits," 173 

Maughan, Miss, case contributed 
by, 125 

Maxwell, the alchemist, 8 

Maxwell, Dr., 202 

McAlpine, Mrs., cases contrib- 
uted by, 143, 353 

Memory, errors of, in spiritual- 
ist observations, 194 

Mesmerism, 5, 8, 9, 32, 44, 61-62 

Michell, Mrs., case contributed 
by, 130 

Miles, Miss, and Miss Ramsden, 
experiments in thought trans- 
ference by, 39-44 

Mirville, Marquis de, his testi- 
mony at the Cideville trial, 

154-155 
Moir, William, case contributed 
by, 254 



Mont ague -Crackanthorpe , Mrs . 

case contributed by, 256 
Morselli, Professor, 199, 202 
"Morton," Miss, records of a 

haunted house, 266 
Moses, Stainton, 173, 306, 327- 

328 
Myers, Frederic, 6, 7, 52, 196- 

198, 204, 207, 220, 275 
his theory of subliminal 

consciousness, 332-334 

N 

Nery, Donna, case contributed 
by, 226 

Newbold, Professor R., case 
recorded by, 362 

Notes, contemporary, in cases 
of spontaneous thought 
transference, presentiments, 
etc., 52, 56, 59, 67, 80, 84, 87, 
91, 92, 112, 125, 135, 143. 218, 
288, 292, 350, 360 

O 

Observation, continuous, in spir- 
itualist experiments, 1 93-1 95 

O'Donnell, Mrs., case contrib- 
uted by, 249 



Pain, telepathic impression of, 
69 

Paladino, Eusapia, spirit me- 
dium, 195, 202-203 

Paracelsus, 7, 8 

Parish, Edmund, on hallucina- 
tions, 139, 169 n. 

Peebles, Mr. S., case contrib- 
uted by, 213 

"Pelham, George" and Mrs. 
Piper, 320-326 

Phantasms of th^ hiving, 3 



372 



Index 



"Phinuit, Dr.," and Mrs. Piper, 
307-309, 319 

Physical effluence, apparent 
evidence of, 45 

Piddington, Mr. J. G., 59, 105 
n. 

Piper, Mrs., 208, 294, 306-330 

her early "controls," 307- 

308 

characteristics of her com- 
munications, 309-310 

■ illustrative cases, 311-326 

Podmore, Mr. A., 188 

Policy, Mr, John, case contrib- 
uted by, 65 

Prayer incited by telepathy, 

74 
Precognition, 331-332, 344-365 
Prediction of death, 352 

of illness, 351-352 

Prince, Dr. Morton, 280 
Private mediumship, 174-175 
Professor , case contributed 

by, 52 

Pseudo-presentiment, Professor 
Royce's hypothesis of, 145 



R 



R., Miss, case contributed by, 
141 

Ramsden, Miss, and Miss Miles, 
experiments in thought trans- 
ference by, 39-44 

Raps, "spirit," 1 50-1 51 

Raseco, Mr,, experiments in 
thought transference by, 32 

Reciprocal action in telepathy, 
1 1 9-1 23 

Reddell, Frances, case contrib- 
uted by, 236 

Reichenbach's researches, 5 

Reverie, 286-287 



Richet, Professor, 196-198 

his experiments in tele- 
pathy, 44 

Robbery, dreams of, 92, 343 

Robinson, Mr. E., case contrib- 
uted by, 71 

Rontgen rays, 1 1 

Rose, Mr. F. W., case contrib- 
uted by, 115 

Royce, Professor, on pseudo- 
presentiments, 145 

"Russell," Miss, case contrib- 
uted by, 241 

Russell, Mr., apparition of, 215 



S., Mr. H. W., his report on 

Davey's slate-writing, 183 
Schiller, Mr. F. C. S., 208 
Scott, Miss, case contributed by, 

260 
Sidgwick, Mrs., 45, 91, i45 

experiments by, 16-27 

on the Piper case, 329 

Sidgwick, Professor H., 204, 206 

experiments by, 16-27 

and the census of halluci- 
nations, 102 
his reply to Hansen and 



Lehmann, 21 n. 

on private mediums, 173 

Sims, Mr. G. R., case contributed 

by, 90 
Singh, Prince Victor Duleep, 

case contributed by, 106, 127, 

138 
Skeletons in connection with 
psychical disturbances, 254- 

259 
Slade, " Dr.," American medium, 
173-176 



Index 



373 



Slate-writing by "spirits," 175- 

195 

Sleep, telepathic production of, 
at distance, 44 

Smell, transference of, experi- 
mental, 32 

spontaneous, 69 

Smith, Mr. G. A., experiments 
by, 16-27 

report on slate-writing by, 

178 

Society for Psychical Research, 
I, 4, 102-109, 231-234, 306, 

309. 336 

"Spirit" communication, 207- 
211. See also Piper, Mrs. 

Spiritualism, 5, 65, 150, 172 

Spontaneous telepathy, eviden- 
tial defects, 47-50 

Stramm, Mdlle., case contrib- 
uted by, 292 

Substitution in slate-writing, 
178-191 

Symbolic dreams, 95, 349 



Tandy, Rev. G. M., case con- 
tributed by, 217 

Tedworth, the Drummer of, 
149-150, 159 

Telepathy, difficulties of a phys- 
ical explanation, 10-14 

Templeton, Mr. J. M., report on 
slate- writing by, 178 

Terriss, W., dream of his mur- 
der, 92 n., 354 

Theosophy, 6, 173 

Thorel, plaintiff in Cideville 
trial, 151-161 

Thury, Professor, 204 

Tinel, M., defendant in Cide- 
ville trial, 1 51-16 1 



Townshend, Rev. C. H., and 
clairvoyance, 335 

Transition between experi- 
mental, and spontaneous tele- 
pathy, no, 112-119 

Trickery, confession, in Polter- 
geist cases, 162 

in spiritualism, 172 

Tuckey, Dr. Lloyd, 6 

Tweedale, Rev. C. L., case con- 
tributed by, 146 

U 

U., Frau, case contributed by, 

67 
Unconscious cerebration, 279 



Venner, Mr., 190-192 
Verrall, Mrs., experiments in 
thought transference by, 27- 

31 
her automatic writing, 299- 

305. 357-359 
cases contributed by, 350, 

357 
Vidigal, Dr., case contributed 

by, 297 

W 

Wallace, Dr. A. R., 186 

Ward, Captain, case contributed 
by, 120 

Water, glass of, used for crystal 
vision, 64 

Wedgwood, Mr. Hensleigh, on 
slate-writing, 176 n. 

Wesley, John, and the ghost at 
Ep worth, 149 

Whispering, subconscious, as 
explanation of thought trans- 
ference, 20, 21 n., 32 



374 



Index 



Whiting, Miss Lilian, case con- 
tributed by, 224 

Wilkie, Mr. J. E., case contrib- 
uted by, 294 

Wilson, Mrs. H. J., case procured 
by, 236 

Wiltse, Dr. A. S., experiments 

i^y. 32-33 



Witchcraft in connection with 
Poltergeist disturbances, 152, 
159-160 



Young, Mr. J. F., case contrib- 
uted by, 56 



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present thought with remarkable clearness, and with as much boldness as 
clearness, challenging every mental temper except courage and intelligent 
thinking. These are rare qualities." — Professor James A. Hvslop, in The 
Christian Register. 

The Passing and the Permanent in Religion. A Plain 
Treatment of the Great Essentials of Religion, being a Sifting 
from these of such Things as Cannot Outlive the Results of 
Scientific, Historical, and Critical Study, — so Making more 
clearly Seen " The Things which Cannot be Shaken." 
Cr. 8vo (By mail, $1.50.) iV^/ $1.35 

•'A timely and helpful book, broad, convincing, stimulating, sane, op- 
timistic." — Detroit Free Press. 

Can Telepathy Explain ? Results of Psychical Research. 
16° (By mail, $1.10) Net %\.oo 

" Dr. Savage here discusses problems that have vexed intelligent minds 
probably to a greater extent than any others, saving those of the religious 
life. He states a great number of well-authenticated instances of apparently 
spiritistic revelation or communication. His discussion is frank ana fearless, 
and the work merits wide reading." — Cincinnati Times-Star. 



Life's Dark Problems; or, Is This a Good World ? 

Cr. 8vo (By mail, $1.50.) iV>/ $1.35 

This book will be helpful to those who are inclined to hold pessimistic 
views of the universe or who are crushed and helpless under burdens of 
their own. 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

Ne-w YorK London 



The Romance of Victor 
Hugo and Juliette Drouet 

by 
Henry Wellington Wack 

Author of * * The Congo Free 5tate, " * * In Thamesland, ' ' etc. 

With an Introduction by Francois Coppee. 
Crown 8°. Illustrated. Net, $1.50. 

Students of French literature know something of the 
ardent attachment of Victor Hugo to Juliette Drouet, re- 
lations which extended over a period of fifty years, and 
formed the romance and much of the inspiration of the 
poet's life. Hugo's letters to this remarkable woman 
were published in France some time ago, but her impas- 
sioned letters of love and admiration, of jealousy, despair, 
and recurring devotion, are now published for the first 
time. That Juliette's letters should have been discovered 
by an American is not the least of the romantic story 
told by Mr. Wack. 

The author has written an interesting sketch of Hugo's 
life during his exile in Guernsey, related many new anec- 
dotes of the poet, his wife, fellow-exiles, and Juliette, 
and vividly described for us that brilliant little company 
whose love for the Republic and hatred for the third 
Napoleon was never assuaged by the Second Empire. 



Q. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK LONDON 



AUG 5 ibufc 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



020 198 912 7 



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